PSU averaged 2.19 yards per carry, the second fewest USC has allowed in the LR era.

USC had 3 penalties, the 3rd fewest of any game in the LR era.

Witnessed by a record-breaking 114,419 people on the east coast.

In case you want hard numbers as a reason to feel good about this game. I'm still riding this high.

(Got these stats from the Reign of Troy podcast on YouTube, s/o to them)

Per LA Times: Knee injury, done for the season.

They are definitely living up to their billing as the #1 recruiting class. 4th BigTen freshman of the week award out of 6 weeks.

I can see Mosley, Wafle, Bowman, or Dixon-Wyatt adding to the list.

2026 Big Ten Football Players of the Week
Sept. 14
F: Mark Bowman, TE, Fr., USC
 
Sept. 21
F: Riley Wormley, RB, R-Fr., USC
 
Oct. 5
F: Luke Wafle, DE, Fr., USC
 
Oct. 12
F: Trent Mosley, WR, Fr., USC

I’m a huge Lincoln Riley hater. Have been since the loss to Tulane in that bowl game.

But what we saw last night, that was the Lincoln Riley we were promised. Creative play calling, creative coaching decisions (the sub to cause delay of game on Penn State/force them to burn a timeout, the end of game delay of game on Penn State’s defense, forcing Penn State to burn all their timeouts early in the second half/the fake going for it on fourth down, etc.), and keen attention to detail.

Say what you will about who Penn State is this year, but Matt Campbell is a good coach. He’s well respected in multiple football circles and always gets the most out of his rosters. The white out atmosphere is something that would rattle most USC teams the last 10 years. And traveling to the east coast has always been difficult for this team.

Lincoln Riley starting the second half off with an onside kick took balls and signaled to the rest of the team that he trusts their defense and Gary Patterson. It seemed to indicate a culture shift in real-time to start the second half.

Here’s to hoping Lincoln Riley coaches this way the rest of the season. If he does, we have a real shot at the CFP.

Jayden Maiava is such a mahalo type QB. Has anyone noticed how “chill” he is. I think of the play last night where the defensive end for Penn state bats the ball in the air and he just calmly runs over bats it down to the ground (smart play) but there’s no panic. Even on the sideline watching him he almost seems like he gets in this rhythmic flow state like the swell on it way to Hawaii. I’ve never watched a QB like him. It’s interesting. He played incredible last night. Fight on!

I have been a pretty big GP hater… but I may have been slightly unfair and it’s clear he is better than D’Anton Lynn. Last night Penn State showed all the horrible defensive issues we had before. Generating zero pressure, dropping everyone, and getting picked apart.

Thought it was funny that Lynn always said he never man pressed at USC because we don’t have the athletes… you know what his excuse was last night for Penn State? Not talented enough.

Dude genuinely thinks you need Ohio State/Texas/Georgia talent to man press or blitz.

Rant over, I’ll promise to be more nice to GP. Fight On

Elijah Paige was out this game, and Vlad (number 51) filled in for his first start. Not sure if he's had prior snaps this year, but to go do what he did in this white out game atmosphere is crazy. His fingerprints are all over every TD drive.

This was easily our best showing this season. Don’t underestimate how tough it is to win the white out game. Very pleased with how balanced we were today. Over 100 yards rushing and over 300 in the air. King Miller finally looked sharp tonight. Great having Trent back. I think his importance to the team was greater than most people thought. Defense wasn’t great and it never is but it was really nice to see them get some big stops down the stretch. Bye weak means everyone getting healthy and locked in for this brutal stretch. If we win the winnable games remaining and compete against Indiana(who doesn’t look too great) and Ohio State then I think we still have an outside shot at a playoff spot. Fight On✌️

Still feel angry,.still want him to raise the bar, but.....

Big road win in a very tough environment.

Discipline!!!!! What? Yes, discipline, in that environment.

Maiva finally looked good.

Mosley is unbelievable.

Defense is starting to look better.

For the first time in a long time, USC made all the right plays at the right time. Converted crucial drives into TDs, avoided turnovers/penalties, and made critical stops. Lot of season left to go, but tonight is a good night ✌️

Being slight underdogs on the road, on the east coast, in the home team’s big university tradition, with their own backs against the wall, we could have easily lost this game.

Instead, we cleaned up on the penalties. Had no turnovers or ever turnover-worthy plays. Defense made a lot of situational stops. And the offense was able to execute a clutch 4-minute drive to end the game.

This team didn’t look anything like the team I saw last week in the Coliseum. Much much better team tonight.

Also, Trent Mosley and Taynook Hines picking up right where Makai Lemon and Jakobi Lane left off is so encouraging.

Headed into bye week, I think it’s fun to map out the CFP landscape and whether we are still in the hunt.

The way I see it, there will likely be 7 spots up for grabs split between BIG and SEC, after you account for:

1. Notre Dame automatic bid (bs the way it is structured but I think they might actually be the best team)
   
2. G6 bid (Boise)
   
3. 1 from ACC (Miami)
   4-5: two from big 12 ( probably Tech and Utah, since I think BYU loses to ND and Utah, Tech has cupcake schedule)

So that leaves 7. The way it stands now, I think that’s 4 from SEC: Georgia, Bama, Texas, Ole Miss. maybe Mizzou or Tennessee sub in for Ole Miss when it’s all said and done, but pretty safe they will get 4.

Probably looking at 3 from the BIG. Let’s say we pencil in OSU and Indiana. Who fills in the last spot?

There’s a mosh pit in middle of the BIG. Depending on how the games play out, I think Iowa, UCLA, USC, Northwestern, Nebraska, and Wisconsin are all technically still alive. Iowa, UCLA, and USC the most likely candidates.

Really, this is pretty black and white for USC. Either we go the rest of the way with 1 more loss (let’s pretend it’s OSU), and I think that’s enough to get in. That would assume a win at Wisconsin, at Indiana, and at UCLA. We lose more than 1 game, and we are out. So yeah, this analysis is pretty useless.

But Iowa is the team that scares me the most. They have a buttercup schedule and very well could end the season with 1 loss. That might play us out even if we only have 2 losses. Also, we need the ACC to continue to blow up outside of Miami.

Any thoughts on who we should cheer for/ against to increase our possible roads to sneak in?

PSU is struggling, but a white out game is still tough to play. Hopefully they can build off of this. Fight On!

Big time win. Statement win. USC proved a lot of people wrong tonight. A cool and collected W led by a veteran QB and a superstar receiver. Lots to be excited about. What jumped out to you guys the most? Fight On✌️

He is looking much better tonight. Having Mosley back probably helps his confidence too.

The way the UCLA defense is playing against UCLA shows how bad ours really is

It’s confirmed. Lol. FIRE LINCOLN RILEY.

Rutgers: 47-15 loss to Indiana at home

Oregon: 17-15 loss to UCLA at home

Washington: 41-24 loss to Iowa at home

Fire Lincoln yesterday. The fact that these three teams lost (two of them uncompetitively) speaks more about the degradation of USC under Lincoln then the quality of the teams that USC played.

LR’s record against ranked opponents is absolutely abysmal and it’s not getting better. His Achilles heal: defense, toughness and line recruiting, is obvious to everyone yet he is incapable of addressing them.