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Penn State Opens as Road Favorite Over USC

The unbeaten Nittany Lions will visit the Trojans for the first time since 1991.

Mark Wogenrich

Penn State quarterback Drew Allar throws a pass during the fourth quarter against the UCLA Bruins at Beaver Stadium.
Penn State quarterback Drew Allar throws a pass during the fourth quarter against the UCLA Bruins at Beaver Stadium. / Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images
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Penn State is an early favorite for its first Big Ten road game of the season — and its first regular-season visit to USC since 1991. The Nittany Lions opened as 3-point favorites over the USC Trojans, according to DraftKings, for a game whose narrative shifted late Saturday night. The Penn State-USC game kicks off at 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. CBS will televise.

Penn State maintained its course this past Saturday, defeating UCLA 27-11 to cap a four-game homestand at Beaver Stadium. The Nittany Lions, 5-0 for the fourth consecutive year, shook a sluggish offensive start to score 27 points over the last three quarters. Quarterback Drew Allar went 17-for-24 for 237 yards and a touchdown, and Penn State's first-team defense essentially held UCLA to three points.

Meanwhile, USC, which could have joined Penn State in the AP Top 10 late Saturday night, fell at Minnesota 24-17 for its second Big Ten road loss of the season. The Trojans (3-2) gave up a quarterback-sneak touchdown on fourth-and-goal with 56 seconds remaining, and then quarterback Miller Moss was intercepted in the end zone to halt a potential game-tying drive. The interception was Moss' second of the game and might have looked familiar to Penn State fans.

"Came down to just inches, right there at the end," USC coach Lincoln Riley told reporters in Minneapolis, according to USC Trojans on SI. "And that's the frustrating thing for our team right now."

Penn State now prepares for its first Big Ten road game not only of the season but also in California. The Nittany Lions have not played a regular-season road game at USC since 1991, which the Trojans won 21-10. In fact, Penn has never beaten USC in California.

The Nittany Lions are 0-5 against USC in California, having lost three Rose Bowl appearances, including one in 1922, and back-to-back regular-season road games in 1990-91. Penn State is 4-6 all-time against USC, winning twice at Beaver Stadium (in 1993 and 1994) and in two neutral-site games: the 1981 Fiesta Bowl and the 1996 Kickoff Classic at the former Giants Stadium in New Jersey.

Penn State visits USC after playing four consecutive home games at Beaver Stadium. The Nittany Lions are 2-0 in the Big Ten after back-to-back victories over Illinois and UCLA. Penn State's defense held UCLA, playing with backup quarterback Justyn Williams, without a touchdown until the game's final minute.

"When you're preparing all week and you don't have any film on the guy, that can make it a little bit interesting," Penn State coach James Franklin said after the game. "But overall, our starting defense held a Big Ten opponent to three points. They scored a few more points there late with a lot of backups in, but in today's day and age, keeping people to a field goal is difficult to do. And I thought our defense did a nice job."

Penn State has been favored in its first five games, but the early 3-point spread is the smallest of the season.

More Penn State Football

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What they said after the Penn State-UCLA game

Penn State vs. UCLA report card

What we learned about the Nittany Lions vs. UCLA

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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Mark Wogenrich
MARK WOGENRICH

Mark Wogenrich is Editor and Publisher of AllPennState, the site for Penn State news on SI's FanNation Network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs and three Rose Bowls.

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