The Penn State Nittany Lions (5-0) hits the road for its first conference matchup of the season away from Beaver Stadium as they travel to USC (3-2) to take on the Trojans at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday.
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Game/Broadcast Details:
Where: Pasadena, California
Stadium: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (Official capacity of 77,500)
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Television: CBS - Brad Nessler (PxP), Gary Danielson (Color), Jenny Dell (Sidelines)
Odds: Penn State opened as a 3.5-point favorite, over/under is 50.5 points.
Trouble in paradise?
The Lincoln Riley experiment in Los Angeles has taken a sour turn early in 2024. Riley guided the Trojans to an 11-win campaign in 2022, his first with the Trojans. That success looked to be continuing in 2023 as USC got off to a 6-0 start before the wheels fell off, dropping five of its last seven to finish the season 8-5.
Those struggles have continued in an up-and-down 2024. The Trojans beat LSU in Las Vegas to start the season on a high note, following that up with victory over Utah State. Then conference play began, USC's first go-around in the Big Ten, which hasn't been kind to Riley and company.
It started with a 27-24 loss to Michigan in Ann Arbor before bouncing back against Wisconsin the following week, but needing a second-half comeback to survive the Badgers' upset bid. The upset followed this past weekend as the Trojans fell to Minnesota to drop to 3-2 on the season and essentially end their College Football Playoff hopes.
Penn State coming to town will still be an anticipated matchup between two college football powers, but USC's loss to the Gophers wipes out what could have been a matchup with College Football Playoff and Big Ten title implications.
Lincoln Riley is already feeling the heat in just his third season in Los Angeles and the Nittany Lions could make it worse with a victory in the Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.
Series history:
Penn State and USC's battles have been few and far between prior to the Trojans joining the Big Ten this season, having just ten matchups all-time coming into Saturday. The Nittany Lions have been on the wrong end of the series, holding a 4-6 record against USC since their first meeting in 1923.
The last two matchups have come in the Rose Bowl, as USC defeated Penn State in the 2017 and 2009 playings of "The Granddaddy of Them All". The most recent meeting saw the Trojans win a thrilling 52-49 game in Pasadena, as Sam Darnold threw for 453 yards and five touchdowns to hand James Franklin and company a defeat.
Penn State's last win over USC came last century, when they faced off in the 1996 Kickoff Classic in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where the Nittany Lions secured a 24-7 victory.
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