USC’s playoff hopes suffer heartbreaking blow in overtime loss to No. 4 Penn State

LOS ANGELES — The chances had been there all afternoon for USC as it tried to put No. 4 Penn State away. But once again Lincoln Riley’s Trojans tiptoed along the brink, playing fast and loose with their College Football Playoff hopes hanging in the balance, driving late in search of one last opportunity after a painstaking succession of missed ones.

So often have the Trojans found themselves in this position, within a few inches of redemption, within a few plays of a key win, only to watch it slip away. It seemed unfathomable Saturday, as USC took an early two-score lead, that it might somehow happen again.

But then the seconds ticked away faster than expected on a critical late drive, and a pass from Miller Moss sailed higher than expected, landing in the arms of a Penn State defender, and suddenly, in overtime, a desperate field-goal attempt sailed wide left.

The opportunities ran dry, and with them, USC’s College Football Playoff hopes largely slipped away. Penn State’s Ryan Barker kicked a 36-yard field goal to send USC to a 33-30 defeat, its third loss in four weeks.

It didn’t have to be this way, not after USC dominated the first half, rolling over Penn State with its run game. Its defense shut down Penn State’s vaunted run game all afternoon, holding the Nittany Lions to just 118 yards. Its struggling offensive line held together long enough to win.

Even after all the squandered opportunities, USC took over with less than three minutes to go and 75 yards to drive for a win. But as USC worked its way down the field, Riley lost control of the clock. With the Trojans running out of time, Moss threw one down the field, hoping to get into field-goal position. It was picked off.

It was a fitting encapsulation of an inconsistent day for USC’s quarterback. Moss threw for 220 yards and two touchdowns, but was never quite able to make the plays necessary to push USC to victory.

Those appeared to be reserved for Woody Marks, USC’s running back, who burst out of the gates with a big first half, only for Riley to turn away from him in the second. Marks would finish with 20 carries for 111 yards.

Penn State threw everything at USC’s defense, cycling all afternoon through strange formations and funky play designs. At one point, Penn State even snapped the ball with its tight end, who ran downfield and caught a double pass for a 32-yard touchdown.

That tight end, Tyler Warren, would account for 43 percent of Penn State’s total offense, torturing USC’s defense in a way that induced flashbacks of the Trojans’ trip to Utah in 2022, when current Buffalo Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid piled up 16 catches for 234 yards.

The Penn State passing attack would ultimately pull them back into the game, with Drew Allar throwing for 391 yards and two touchdowns.