Penn State is ranked #4 in the AP poll heading into this week's game on the West Coast versus the University of Southern California Trojans.
USC was the victim of a surprise upset by unranked Minnesota on the road. USC was ranked 11th, and now they have entirely fallen out of the AP Poll. Penn State took down UCLA at home last week and they are 5-0 on the season. USC is 3-2 on the season with losses to Michigan and Minnesota. This will be a tough road test for Penn State and they have really had one of those yet besides West Virginia. My score prediction is 28-24 Penn State.
Drew Allar is a great quarterback and has led Penn State this season. He has 1,101 passing yards in five games. The main strengths of this Penn State team are the running game and the defense. The Nittany Lions have two great running backs, Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen. Singleton has more rushing yards with 408 but Allen is a great running back as well. The defense has only allowed 11 points per game which ranks eighth in the nation. This will be a great quarterback matchup because USC also has a superstar QB in Miller Moss. Miller Moss has 1,398 in five games and is a Heisman pick for some people this year. USC is scoring 30.8 points a game and is allowing 18.4. Minnesota was a bad loss, but overall they have a talented team.
This is a winnable game for Penn State. Here are some keys to victory.
RUN THE BALL. Nick Singleton needs to be a huge factor in this game. Throw the ball deep. If they do all of these things they should win this game.