Penn State (5-0) is heading to South California to take on Lincoln Riley’s USC (3-2) in their Week 7 Big 10 match-up. The Nittany Lions are yet to taste defeats, and on the other hand, Riley’s boys have tasted it two more times than he would have liked. If Riley is to be believed, “If you change two plays this year, then we’re 5-0.” The Week 7 game comes at a critical time for Riley. They are 0-2 in Big 10 games, and another loss may mean an end to their playoff hopes. In both their losses, USC faced similar issues, especially on offense, and the GOAT of college football highlighted one particular thing wrong with the offense.

After his impressive start to the season, Trojans’ QB Miller Moss has had mixed games in his outings against Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. A common theme has been the pressure on Moss, who doesn’t get enough time to make plays. Nick Saban talked about this on today’s College Game Day while reviewing the Penn State vs. USC game.

As per Saban on ESPN College Football, “I think the big thing is Lincoln Riley is a great offensive coach, but when you don’t have good people up front, and they really struggle with offensive tackle even though they got a really good quarterback in Miller Moss, they can’t really utilize the talent that they have.”

Lincoln Riley has a way with the QBs. Every QB he coaches ends up in the NFL. During his time at Oklahoma, he coached Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Jalen Hurts, and Spencer Rattler. Each one of them landed in the NFL. Caleb Williams moved with Riley to the Trojans. Result? Williams was the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Not bad, huh? Miller Moss must wake up every day wishing to be the next one on this glorious list.

But if Saban is to be believed, USC’s weak O-line isn’t letting Moss showcase his talent. That gets reflected almost in every game. Any 3rd and long, and we see Moss struggling to make a play. The result? Either a sack or, in some cases, horrible interceptions. Both Minnesota and Michigan utilized this weakness, and even Wisconsin had a field day in the first half. It’s fair to say that Penn State may be USC’s biggest test yet, and Saban believes them to be a tough matchup for Riley despite it being an away game for the Nittany Lions.

“Penn State is, to me, a very complete team. They’re good on offense, they can make explosive plays, they got a good quarterback, they can run the ball, and they’re eighth in the country on defense. So, they’re kind of a complete complimentary team that I think is going to be a very difficult match-up for him [Lincoln Riley].”

Well, head coach James Franklin must be elated to hear those words from Nick Saban’s mouth. That’s not all when it comes to USC’s weaknesses. There’s another theme that a complete team like Penn State can gain from.

Can Penn State take advantage of Lincoln Riley’s failure to adjust to the Big 10?

The Trojans’ much-talked-about move to the Big 10 conference hasn’t gone to plan. Two away games to Big 10 teams and two losses. That’s a horrible start. In both games, the Trojans’ defense failed to exert itself on the game. On College Game Day, Pat McAfee highlighted a stat that the Trojans’ fans will not like to hear.

“In their three big 10 games, USC has given up 589 yards rushing. Okay, that’s a lot of yards. 385 of them have come after contact. It seems like they’re potentially on the defensive side, not prepared, or maybe not personnel up enough to handle the pounding,” McAfee said. 

For a while this season, it seemed like the new defensive coordinator, D’Anton Lynn, had addressed a major weakness. They were no longer bullied by the teams. The team looked stronger, heavier, and eager to take on the offense. That wasn’t seen when the Wolverines just ran the ball to take the lead in the dying minutes of the 4th quarter. As McAfee pointed out, it’s not just rushing yards, it is also the failure to tackle and stop the run.

How does Penn State’s offense fare on this aspect? They rank third in the conference in rushing offense. Nationally, they are 17th. Against Kent State, the Nittany Lions had 285 rushing yards and close to 700 yards of total offense. When they get it going, Penn State can be quite ruthless.

The last match-up between these two teams happened in the 2017 Rose Bowl. In an extremely close game, the Trojans overpowered Penn State 52-49. A repeat of that result? Lincoln Riley would accept it in a heartbeat.