Penn State slide continues, Nittany Lions can’t corral Jayden Maiava in 31-23 loss to Southern Cal

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — A record-setting crowd, a pregame light show, and a halftime drone show. This year’s “White Out” had it all.

Well, everything besides a first Big Ten win for coach Matt Campbell and Penn State, which lost to Southern California, 31-23. Trojans quarterback Jayden Maiava was stellar, throwing for 301 yards and three touchdowns and dicing up the Nittany Lions’ secondary.

A fumble by wide receiver Brett Eskildsen with four minutes remaining killed any chance of Penn State mounting a comeback as it dropped to 0-3 in conference play. The Trojans, meanwhile, improved to 6-1 overall, 3-1 in the Big Ten.

Beaver Stadium had 114,419 fans packed inside for the biggest game of Penn State’s season despite the poor start to 2026, smashing the previous attendance record of 111,030 set against Ohio State in 2024.

“It was an unbelievable atmosphere,” Campbell said postgame. “It was one of the most impressive environments that I’ve been able to coach in or be a part of. And I think my disappointment is right now, we can’t give them the result that they deserve, but the reality is we will, and we will find a pathway forward.”

It’s been a tough start to Big Ten play for quarterback Rocco Becht, who came into Saturday’s matchup with just one touchdown and three interceptions in conference play. But the redshirt senior helped temper the criticism with a strong performance in a losing effort.

The Iowa State transfer Becht concluded his first “White Out” with 289 yards and one touchdown on 21 of 32 passing (a 66% completion rate).

The Nittany Lions couldn’t find a rhythm on offense the previous two weeks, partially because of Becht’s inconsistency in throwing the deep ball. On Saturday, he was accurate on downfield throws from the jump, finding wide receiver Chase Sowell for 47 yards on Penn State’s second offensive play of the game.

Becht wound up with five completions over 15 yards as the Nittany Lions found explosiveness on offense for the first time since Week 3 against Buffalo.

“Having explosive plays within a game in the passing game is huge, and we haven’t had those in a while,” Becht said postgame. “And it was great to see that tonight.”

Sowell was a big help with that, tallying a team-high 95 yards, but Becht spread the ball around more than he has all season, with seven players recording a catch.

It wasn’t all perfect for Becht, who had a few missed throws late in the game, but also had a few passes dropped by his targets.

Penn State’s secondary had allowed just one passing touchdown all season entering Saturday’s matchup. Southern Cal quarterback Jayden Maiava had two in the first half.

The Nittany Lions defense has allowed 82 points across their last 10 quarters after only allowing 22 in the three-and-a-half games prior. It’s been a sharp decline for defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn’s group, which hasn’t been able to play a cohesive game since the Wisconsin collapse.

Penn State allowed 413 rushing yards last Friday to Northwestern, but held the Wildcats to just 93 yards passing. This week, it held Southern Cal to 129 yards rushing, but gave up 301 through the air.

Lynn couldn’t find a defensive backfield alignment he liked, with cornerback Zion Tracy playing safety for the first time this season, while previous starting safety Marcus Neal Jr. didn’t see the field despite not being listed on the injury report.

“As the game kind of got into a spread game and playing in space, it was a situation where we went with probably more coverage than we did from a tactical standpoint at the safety position,” Campbell said.

The tackling struggles showed up as well, with the Nittany Lions missing four on the Trojans’ first drive alone, and the defensive line couldn’t generate any pass rush. Linebacker Tony Rojas was the lone Penn State player with a sack on Saturday.

Penn State heads to Ann Arbor next Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. bout with Michigan (3-2, 0-2) at the Big House. The rivals last met in 2023, with the Wolverines defeating the Nittany Lions, 24-15, at Beaver Stadium. Michigan is on a two-game losing streak, with losses to Minnesota and Iowa preceding Saturday’s bye.

The network is currently undecided.