USC's Lincoln Riley relishes 31-23 win at Penn State after Trojans were counted out

No. 19 USC went into one of the toughest road settings in college football and came out with a 31-23 win over Penn State on Saturday night, and Lincoln Riley made it clear afterward that he enjoyed proving the doubters wrong.

The Trojans played in front of a White Out crowd at Beaver Stadium in a primetime game on NBC. ClutchPoints reported that Riley ranked the result among his favorite wins as a head coach. "Nobody in the world gave us a chance to come in and win this game," Riley said after the game, according to ClutchPoints.

Quarterback Jayden Maiava led the way. He completed 21 of 33 passes for 301 yards and three touchdowns, and USC's offense kept pace in a building that has given visiting teams trouble for years. According to ClutchPoints, Riley credited his team's preparation and mindset, along with its ability to tune out the outside noise. Some of that noise had questioned whether the Trojans could handle the physical side of Big Ten play.

What it means for USC

The win was USC's second straight, following a victory over Washington. It moves the Trojans to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in conference play. Riley called the result a possible spark for the rest of the season but said his team still has plenty of room to improve.

USC has a bye this week, so the Trojans get two weeks to recover and build on the result before they play again. A road win over Penn State is the kind of result the selection committee notices in November. Combined with the win over Washington, it gives USC a stronger case in the Big Ten race and the national picture than it had at the start of the month.

Penn State's road gets no easier

For the Nittany Lions, the loss stings for more than the setting. Penn State is now 3-3 and has little margin left if it hopes to salvage a season that started with much bigger goals. It lost a home game it needed, in front of its biggest crowd of the year, to a team many outside observers expected it to handle.

The schedule does not offer a break. Penn State travels to Michigan next Saturday, and the market has the Wolverines as clear favorites. Michigan is favored at -223 on Novig, one of the venues pricing the game, with the total set at 43.5. The best sportsbook price on Michigan is -215 at theScore Bet. Odds and matchup details are on the Penn State at Michigan game page.

A loss in Ann Arbor would drop Penn State below .500 at the midpoint of the season, and the questions about where the program is headed would only get louder. A win would steady things and give the Nittany Lions a signature result of their own, the kind USC took home from Happy Valley.

For now, the week belongs to Riley and the Trojans, who went into a hostile stadium as the team few people picked and left with a win.