USC coach Lincoln Riley blames himself for overtime loss to Penn State: 'Gut punch'

The USC Trojans lose their third game of the season at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 33-30 in overtime against the Penn State Nittany Lions. It is the third time this season that the Trojans have lost in the final minute of regulation time or in overtime.

“Really tough loss,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said. “There’s no sugarcoating this. Our boys fought from start to finish. As a coach, you can't ask for anything better than the effort the boys show on the field. There are two good football teams.” , it came down to the last bit

“Obviously we've had a few games like this where we had a chance to win at the end without, you know, not making the plays and not throwing some of the breaks our way. There is.” There is no doubt about it. So we're disappointed that we didn't make it.

After gaining just 15 yards on their first possession, the Trojans' offense exploded on their second possession thanks to a 75-yard run by running back Quinten Joyner. It was the longest touchdown of the year for USC. Joyner then scored his touchdown of the afternoon when he caught a nine-yard pass from quarterback Miller Moss.

It was a good day for the Trojans as senior running back Woody Marks reached the century mark for the second straight year, this time carrying the ball 20 times for 118 yards. USC finished the game with 200 yards on the ground against the No. 4 rushing defense in college football

USC was in complete control in the first half as they went into the locker room with a 20-6 lead. The second half was a different story.

All the momentum began to shift to Penn State as they opened the half with back-to-back scoring drives of 75 and 90 yards to tie the game at 20 yards. From then on, the two bluebloods began exchanging blows like a great boxing match.

Moss connected with Kyron Hudson late in the fourth quarter to give the Trojans a lead, but on the ensuing possession, quarterback Drew Allar connected twice with receiver Julian Fleming on fourth down to extend the drive. Allar would then find a wide open Nick Singleton for a 9-yard touchdown to tie the game and send it to overtime.

USC got the ball first, Michael Lantz missed his 45-yard field goal attempt, Penn State's Ryan Barker made his 36-yard field goal and Penn State walked away with its perfect record still intact.

“The reality is we played the toughest schedule in the country,” Riley said. “We had a chance to win every single game and that's hard to do… we have to do a better job at the end of games. I have to do a better job, our coaches, our players, because “We do too many good things in situations where we have a lead and we can win and we have to get paid for it. We have to be able to finish.

USC will make its own coast-to-coast journey when it travels to College Park to take on the Maryland Terrapins next Saturday, October 19th. It will be the first-ever matchup between the two programs. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. PT and will be televised on FS1.