Time management, poor officiating doom USC in overtime loss to No. 4 Penn State

The latest USC loss is going to sting for a while. That's because nearly everything that could go wrong for the Trojans in the second half of their 33-30 loss to No. 4 Penn State did go wrong.

Leading 20-6 at halftime, the Trojans were outscored 27-10 in the final 30 minutes of the game. Now, head coach Lincoln Riley's team sits at just 3-3 on the season and 1-3 in Big Ten play.

Let's look at some rapid reactions to a wild game in the Coliseum. And we'll start with something that was completely out of USC's control.

USC was done in by two missed calls in overtime

There is no way to get around it. USC was completely robbed by the Big Ten officiating crew in overtime. Perhaps one missed call can be excused but two blatant errors by the officials is inexcusable.

On both the first-down and the third-down plays on the Trojans' OT possession, Penn State defensive backs got away with obvious illegal contact yet no flags were thrown. It was stunning to see neither of those plays draw a call.

Some might say that this officiating crew was hesitant to throw flags on Saturday. They called only eight penalties (five going against USC) all game long.

However, there were three controversial officiating decisions in the game and all went against USC. Aside from the two missed pass interference penalties in overtime, USC was also penalized for a suspect roughing the passer in the fourth quarter that helped set up a Nittany Lion field goal.

After last week's controversial call reversal on Minnesota's game winning TD and a number of blatant officiating mistakes that went against USC at Michigan, it is tough to blame any Trojan fan who is unhappy with the way USC's games in the Big Ten have been officiate thus far. And on Saturday, poor officiating could have cost USC a much-needed win.

USC head coach Lincoln Riley completely bungles final possession of regulation

For much of this game, USC head coach Lincoln Riley called a brilliant game while guiding the Trojan offense. However, that will all be forgotten because of the way he handled his team's final possession of the fourth quarter.

With the game tied at 30-30, USC moved the ball to the Penn State 49 with 1:27 to play. From that point on, USC would run just three more plays despite having all of its timeouts to use.

After a first-down run, Riley let 39 seconds run off the clock. Then, after second down, he let 34 more expire.

What Riley was thinking is anyone's guess. It wasn't as if USC was already in field goal range.

Because of his poor clock management, Riley put his team in scramble mode and had Penn State not called a timeout with 14 seconds left, USC might not have had a chance to run the third-down play that resulted in the interception that ended the drive.

Riley already had a perception problem as a head coach. Now, after the way that he handled the last drive of regulation, his detractors will have even more ammunition to fire when pointing out his flaws.

USC again torched by a tight end

In October of 2022, then-Utah tight end Dalton Kincaid went off against USC with 16 catches, 224 yards, and a touchdown as the Utes beat the Trojans in Salt Lake City. Unfortunately, another tight end nearly repeated that performance to the number on Saturday,

Penn State tight end Tyler Warren was unstoppable with 17 catches for 224 yards and a touchdown to help his team secure the comeback win. To put it another way, he accounted for 56% of Penn State's receiving yards.

Coming into the game, he led Penn State in receptions, yards, and TD catches so it is hard to understand why defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn and his staff didn't have a better plan to neutralize him. Perhaps the absence of versatile linebacker Eric Gentry was part of the issue. Gentry could have been a player with enough size and athleticism to match up with Warren but whatever the plan was to stop Penn State's top receiver, it didn't work.

Penn State makes a living through the air

Entering this game, most USC fans had to be concerned about the Penn State rushing attack which entered the day ranked 18th nationally by putting up over 217 yards per game. However, it was the pedestrian Penn State passing attack that won the day.

The Nittany Lions were ranked just 58th in the country in passing offense. They had been averaging a mere 244 yards per game through the air.

Was that because they had been able to avoid large deficits thus far in the season? Perhaps. But regardless, the fact that USC allowed Penn State to throw for 400 yards while running for just 118 is surprising.

If we had been told prior to the game that USC would give up as few yards on the ground as they did, we would have all thought the Trojans would be in great shape. However, give credit to Penn State QB Drew Allar who was 30 of 43 passing for 391 yards and two TDs.

Though he had three picks on the day, he was able to carve up the USC secondary. Part of the reason why was the lack of a pass rush from the Trojans who registered zero sacks on the day. That's another area where Gentry's absence was felt as he is one of USC's best pass rushers off of the edge.

USC misses out on two golden opportunities

Finally, when trying to figure out how this game got away from the Trojans, look back at two possessions that USC had after picking off Allar (the third INT came on a Hail Mary on the final play of regulation).

In the second quarter, Desman Stephens II picked off Allar and returned the ball to the PSU 26. However, USC would have to settle for a field goal on the ensuing possession to take a 17-3 lead.

Then, in the third quarter, USC took over at the Penn State 24 after the Easton Mascarenas-Arnold interception. Again, the Trojans would kick a field goal, this time to go up 23-20.

On those two possessions, USC would end up losing a net total of one yard. Twice being set up to start drives inside the Penn State 30 and coming away with only six points after going nowhere is not how to upset the No. 4 team in the nation and those two opportunities should haunt the Trojans almost as much as the poor officiating and missed OT field goal should.