The USC Trojans might be 5.5-point underdogs at home against a top-five opponent, but make no mistake, the most dangerous animal is a wounded one.
With their college football playoff hopes hanging in the balance, expect the Trojans to play with a desperation, freedom, and spirit that should make Saturday’s battle against the #4 Penn State Nittany Lions a 60-minute teeth-grinder that will come down to a handful of plays late.
Ultimately, as the clock strikes somewhere after 4 pm PST, the matter of whether USC has more points on the scoreboard than their Nittany Lion counterparts will come down to three game-altering matchups.
USC Trojans’ Tackles Vs Nittany Lion Edge Rushers
No surprise here.
How Mason Murphy and Elijah Paige hold their own against the dynamic edge duo of Abdul Carter and Dani Dennis-Sutton, who have combined for five sacks and two forced fumbles in probably three total games of actual play given the majority of Nittany Lions’ contests ending in blowouts this season, is the unquestioned headline.
Even if Murphy and Paige can marginally lose the battle, rather than exponentially, it will be significant for the Trojans to win the war.
Also Read: Huge List Of Recruits Will Be At The Coliseum To Watch USC Trojans
An undercard matchup to watch as well is Alani Noa or Emmanuel Pregnon against interior Penn State lineman Zane Durant, who has 2.5 sacks of his own.
The heart of the Penn State pass rush centers on those three players as the linchpins for all other defensive variation.
Tyler Warren vs. Eric Gentry*
**Editor Note – Gentry is out indefinitely, so he is not expected to play.
*The asterisk is due to Gentry’s questionable status for Saturday – without him, this assignment most likely will fall to Easton Mascarenas-Arnold, a wildly versatile linebacker in his own right, who also has an interception on the year. Those cover skills will be vital to the Warren matchup.
This is a battle between two of the most unique players in all of college football. The best comparison to Warren is Taysom Hill at BYU or if Tim Tebow played tight end at Florida.
Warren has 23 receptions for 289 yards and three touchdowns (all first on the team), with four carries for 34 yards and one touchdown, on top of one passing touchdown for 17 yards.
The Nittany Lions line up Warren everywhere – in standard tight end areas, out wide, in the backfield, and even in the wildcat. He’s Penn State’s unquestioned Swiss army knife and going mano y mano with the 6’6 Gentry, his team-leading two sacks, one forced fumble, and unrelenting motor all over the field would be truly one of the most delicious individual matchups in college football all year.
Trojan Secondary vs. Nittany Lion Receivers
The chess match here comes down to two unproven rooms that are mirror images of one another.
For USC, the secondary hasn’t been utilized very much since the season-opening win versus LSU. From Utah State to Michigan to Wisconsin to Minnesota, the quantity and complexity of those passing games was in the bottom tier of college football.
Similarly with Penn State, after their season-opening win versus West Virginia where the Nittany Lions exhibited a verticality with outside players not seen for several years, the wide receiver play has been maddeningly inconsistent.
Related: Lincoln Riley Provides Latest Injury Updates Ahead Of Penn State
Certainly, there’s talent – Harrison Wallace III has 14 catches for 230 yards and two touchdowns, Omari Evans has 10 grabs for 220 yards and two scores, while Liam Clifford has eight snares for 180 yards and one paydirt visit.
But the unanimous emergence of a number one receiver with continuous strong performances has been missing. How Jaylin Smith, Greedy Vance Jr., Jacobe Covington, and Kamari Ramsey shadow this group will swing the pendulum significantly.
Ultimately, the winner of this contest will probably be on the right side of at least two of these three matchups, let the games begin Saturday at 12:30 pm PST at the Coliseum.