The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: Reviewing Penn State football’s 33-30 overtime win over USC
Penn State earned a massive win Saturday evening in Los Angeles, taking down USC 33-30 in overtime after trailing 20-6 at halftime.
Let’s get straight into the analysis.
Good
Tyler Warren: I know there are a lot of good tight ends in college football, but there probably isn’t a better one than Warren. The Nittany Lion is putting himself in position to be the first at his position off the board in the 2025 NFL Draft and he’s doing it by helping carry this Penn State offense.
Warren has been the piece that unlocks everything for the team this season. Need a third-and-medium conversion? He’s your pass catcher. Need a short yardage run? Let him carry the ball. Trying to catch a defense off guard? He can throw it. Trying to really catch them off guard? Stick him at center and let him run a seam route. Warren is an elite player and might go down as the best tight end (if you want to limit him to that position) to ever play at Penn State.
Ryan Barker: Warren was the best player on the field but Barker was the one who called game. The Penn State field goal unit has been an adventure this season in large part because Sander Sahaydak has struggled, eventually leading to Barker taking over. And now that it’s his job, it doesn’t look like he’s going to give it back any time soon. He connected on four short field goal attempts, including the 36-yard game-winner in overtime.
In an ideal world Penn State doesn’t have to rely on its kicker so often, but it did on Saturday and Barker came through to give the team the win.
Andy Kotelnicki: The Penn State offense has been far better this year than it was last year and if you’re going to dole out credit, most of it has to go to Kotelnicki and the job he’s done in his first year at offensive coordinator. Warren’s touchdown — when he snapped the ball, ran a seam route and caught a touchdown — was just one of many ways the tight end was put in position to succeed. It’s not a coincidence that USC, despite getting lit up by the tight end in the first half, still managed to lose him at times in the second half.
That’s because Kotelnicki consistently schemed him open and put his best player in position to succeed. The offensive coordinator has been a revelation for Penn State this season and could be the difference in even bigger games the rest of the way.
Jaylen Reed: The Penn State defense has come together to be one of the country’s best this season, and a lot of that has had to do with Reed. Yes, the unit struggled at times on Saturday, but that was no fault of Reed’s and he was a major reason why the group was able to bring things together in the second half. He’s been all over the field and was against the Trojans, too, even though he was playing more at safety than the Lion position he had taken over prior to K.J. Winston’s injury.
Reed was still able to create pressure on USC quarterback Miller Moss and excelled in coverage for the Nittany Lions. He’s quickly becoming one of the most valuable pieces the defense has at its disposal.
Abdul Carter: When the 2025 NFL Draft rolls around and Carter hears his name called, clips from this game will be what the big networks air to show what he can do to help his new NFL team. He was fantastic, especially in the second half, and showed why he’s been praised so much. His sack on Moss showed his elite flexibility, with his bend around the edge allowing him to get around the USC offensive line and get to the quarterback without losing his momentum.
And to show off his versatility, he dropped into coverage and broke up a pass — a play where he jumped so high I was convinced he was going to pick it off. Carter is one of the best athletes on the team and he’s going to be vital when this team takes on Ohio State in less than a month.
Drew Allar and Julian Fleming: It makes sense to pair these two together because of the resilience they both showed. Allar threw two picks early in the game, and Fleming dropped an easy pass, opening the door for things to go poorly for the offense. But instead both bounced back. The quarterback methodically led the Penn State offense on a game-tying drive late in the fourth quarter that pushed the game to overtime. Twice he completed difficult throws on fourth down to convert on the drive and extend the game. And who did those passes go to? Fleming, of course. The veteran receiver bounced back in a big way to haul in those throws, with his resilience allowing for the team to win.
Bad
First half defense: I don’t know if the first half could have gone much worse for the Nittany Lion defense. USC was able to connect on big plays, and even the ones that didn’t go for a big gain still picked up a chunk of yards. The Trojans weren’t one dimensional, either. They were taking care of business through the air and on the ground and at times Penn State looked helpless. To his credit, defensive coordinator Tom Allen got things turned around at halftime, but this is worth monitoring moving forward.
Penn State needs a full 60 minutes from the defense when it takes on Ohio State — and when it likely plays in the playoff in late December.
Ugly
USC’s clock management: The Trojans had a golden opportunity to drive down the field and get the win after Allar led the game-tying drive, with nearly three minutes on the clock. Instead, USC head coach Lincoln Riley slowed things down, took the air out of the ball and basically conceded that the game was going to overtime. Moss threw an interception to Reed on a third down near midfield with very little time on the clock that ultimately ended the drive, but it was essentially over when Riley decided he’d rather play for overtime than give his dynamic offense a chance to win the game on its own.
