Penn State defensive ends Dani Dennis-Sutton (33) and end Abdul Carter (11) will be in the spotlight Saturday against a USC offensive line that has struggled in pass protection.
Barry Reeger | AP photo
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D’Anton Lynn (8) was a standout at cornerback for Penn State from 2008-11. Now he faces his alma mater for the first time as USC’s defensive coordinator.
Gene J. Puskar | AP file photo
Penn State was prepared for a top-10 showdown on Saturday in Los Angeles. Instead the Nittany Lions are facing a team with its season already on the line.
USC was poised to close out a road win over Minnesota and move into the top 10 of the polls after an upset-filled Saturday. But the Trojans became a victim themselves, getting outscored 14-0 in the fourth quarter and losing on a controversial touchdown in the final minute.
So here are the talented Trojans, plunging all the way from No. 11 to outside of both top 25 polls, sitting at No. 26 in both with a 3-2 record. A loss to the No. 4 Lions would almost certainly eliminate them from the College Football Playoff picture in early October.
Not what Lincoln Riley was expecting in USC’s first season in the Big Ten.
“I think we’ve made progress in every way that you can possibly measure,” the Trojans coach said before the season at Big Ten media days. “But we’re coming. We’re coming quickly.”
The rest of the Big Ten apparently didn’t get the memo.
Road trips to Michigan and Minnesota both ended in losses when the Trojans couldn’t stop a fourth-and-goal run at the end of the game. USC didn’t get any favors last week — the Gophers were originally ruled to have been stopped on the field before replay overturned the call to a game-deciding touchdown — but the Trojans have the far superior roster and probably shouldn’t have let it come down to that.
Their lone conference win saw them fall behind 21-10 at halftime against Wisconsin before turning in a dominant second half.
“We’re two plays away from probably being 5-0,” Riley told reporters in Los Angeles. “… I promise you, we’re still a very confident team. This isn’t some team that has two losses where we got our ass kicked. No, that’s not the case. We know what we’re capable of.”
Penn State certainly isn’t taking anything for granted.
THREE AND OUT
Detailed travel plans
James Franklin has been dealing with the logistics of the first regular season trip to the West Coast in his 11 seasons as Penn State coach.
Instead of leaving on Friday as with every other Big Ten road trip in his tenure, the Lions flew out to Los Angeles on Thursday. That’s not primarily to aid in potential jet lag but rather because traveling that far necessitated flying out of Harrisburg instead of State College as usual.
Improving the local airport is a long-term issue. For now, Franklin said he feels good about their plan.
“I think there’s two different ways of looking at it and approaching it,” Franklin said. “You’ve got the bowl game where you want to get out there early, get adjusted to the climate, get adjusted to the time, all those different things. When you don’t, then you just don’t make an issue out of it. You just go. You stick to your normal routine. You play the game, and you get out of there.
“I also think this is a time of the year where the weather is going to be somewhat similar. I think some of the challenges with a bowl game is not just the time zone differences and things like that. It may be or is the middle of the winter here in Pennsylvania, and you may be going to play a game in a climate that’s very, very different. So that factors in.”
Penn State was able to hold their practice on Friday at SoFi Stadium, home of the Rams and Chargers, to prepare for Saturday’s trip to the Coliseum.
Lynn up to the challenge
The Trojans weren’t able to fully capitalize on having a Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall draft pick in Caleb Williams under center the past two seasons. A major factor was a defense that was well behind the offense in performance.
Riley made an aggressive move to try and fix things by raiding crosstown rival UCLA for its defensive coordinator — former Penn State starting cornerback D’Anton Lynn.
Only 34, Lynn is considered a rising star in the coaching ranks and has a pedigree with his father, Anthony, holding a long NFL coaching career, including a stint as head coach of the Chargers.
Lynn’s impact was immediate as the defense held up in a high-profile win over LSU in the season opener.
Having been busy starting his coaching career for the past decade — and climbing the ladder quickly, at that — Lynn hasn’t spent much time focusing on his alma mater until this week.
“I haven’t gotten a chance to see them play in person since I played there, so it’ll be cool,” Lynn told reporters in Los Angeles. “Two of my old teammates (defensive line coach Deion Barnes and tight ends coach Ty Howle) are on the staff. It will be cool to see them before and after the game.”
Lynn said he wasn’t putting any extra emphasis on the opponent, but he had plenty of laurels for the Lions’ offense.
Franklin hasn’t crossed paths with Lynn before now — he likely wouldn’t have been on Franklin’s radar when he needed to replace defensive coordinator Manny Diaz this past winter — but that will change.
“I want to make sure I know where all the Penn State grads in the NFL and in college football are coaching as well as Pennsylvania people that were born and raised in this state,” Franklin said. “I think that’s an important piece to be aware of when you’re putting your staff together.”
Infirmary report
All eyes will again be on running back Nick Singleton, who suited up last Saturday but ultimately sat out after testing an undisclosed injury in warm-ups.
Penn State still won comfortably against UCLA, but the offense finished with season-lows in rushing yards and total yards.
One of the reasons for sitting out was presumably so Singleton would have the best chance of facing the Trojans.
“He was very close to going last week,” Franklin said. “So as long as we don’t have any setbacks this week, I would anticipate him going. … But, yeah, we’re very confident and I think Nick is very confident that he will be ready to go.”
Much less certain is the status of right tackle Anthony Donkoh, who appeared to suffer an upper body injury early in last week’s game and did not return.
Donkoh was feeling good enough to return to practice this week in some capacity. If he is unable to play, then Nolan Rucci would be in line for his first start since transferring from Wisconsin.
On the other side, USC has taken most of their hits on defense.
Linebacker Eric Gentry — who leads the Trojans in tackles, tackles for loss and sacks — didn’t play against Minnesota and Riley said he is out indefinitely, perhaps even making him a redshirt candidate.
Defensive lineman Bear Alexander, a Georgia transfer and former blue chip recruit, left the team last month because he was upset about his playing time. His decision will preserve a year of his eligibility, same as linebacker Raesjon Davis, who is also sitting out the rest of the season.
Others on the mend include starters in cornerback Jacobe Covington, tight end Lake McRee and defensive end Anthony Lucas.