Penn State falls to 0-3 in Big Ten as Matt Campbell points to finishing in 31-23 loss to USC

Penn State stayed level with No. 19 USC for a half on Saturday night at Beaver Stadium. Then the same problem that has hurt the Nittany Lions all season showed up again: they reached scoring range and came away with field goals instead of touchdowns. USC won 31-23 in the White Out. Penn State is 3-3 overall and 0-3 in Big Ten play under first-year coach Matt Campbell.

Ryan Snyder of On3's Blue White Illustrated covered Campbell's postgame press conference. Campbell tied the loss to Penn State's earlier defeat against Wisconsin, saying the Lions lost both games on third-and-long situations once drives had stalled. "You bust your tail to get to that point, and not being able to finish," Campbell said, calling it the thing his team has to work its way out of.

The first half went the way Penn State would have wanted. USC scored a touchdown on the opening drive, and quarterback Rocco Becht answered six plays later to tie it. The Trojans scored again two drives after that, and Becht led a seven-play, 75-yard drive to tie the game again. Each team kicked a field goal late in the half, and it was 17-17 at the break.

After halftime, Penn State reached the USC 16-yard line on one drive and the USC 7 on the next. Both drives ended in field goals. Jayden Maiava and the USC offense scored touchdowns on both of their long drives, and the Trojans led by 8 with about 11 minutes left.

Penn State punted midway through the fourth quarter but got the ball back with about four minutes to go. Wide receiver Brett Eskildsen made a 25-yard catch on that drive and then fumbled. It was Penn State's only turnover of the game, and it ended the Lions' last real chance to tie.

According to On3's timestamps, Campbell also talked about the pass rush, whether the Lions have the personnel to run the ball, timeout issues and game management, and how Becht played. He gave an update on Marcus Neal and spoke about the White Out atmosphere. On3 separately reported that the game set a new Beaver Stadium attendance record.

What comes next

Penn State plays at Michigan next week and then has its bye. A loss in Ann Arbor would send the Lions into the open week winless in the conference. At the season's midpoint, they are tied with Maryland, Michigan State and Washington at the bottom of the Big Ten standings, On3 noted.

The numbers from Saturday show both sides of Penn State's season. The offense kept up with a ranked opponent for 30 minutes and turned the ball over only once. But four field goals, two of them after drives that reached inside the USC 20, were not enough against a team that finished its drives with touchdowns.

USC improves to 6-1. The Trojans did what Penn State couldn't: they scored touchdowns on their long second-half drives and held on to win a tight game on the road.