On Saturday night, USC will visit Penn State in the Nittany Lions’ annual White Out game. With the two teams a combined 1-3 over the past two weeks, both sides will be desperate for a potential season-saving victory.
The Trojans do not need to look very far for a warning sign of what could happen if this game goes poorly. Interestingly, the position that USC finds itself in now is remarkably similar to the one that Penn State was in this time a year ago.
Last year, the Nittany Lions hosted Oregon in the final weekend of September (ironically, also in the White Out game). After years of coming up short against top ten opponents, this was viewed as head coach James Franklin’s opportunity to finally break through and get a signature win.
Instead,
Penn State lost once again. After that, the Lions’ season completely went off the rails, with losses to UCLA and Northwestern leading to Franklin’s firing.
This year, it was USC hosting Oregon the final weekend of September. After years of losing the biggest games, this was supposed to be Lincoln Riley’s time to finally take the next step. Like Franklin and Penn State, however, the Trojans came up short.
Now, USC finds itself in a remarkably similar position to the one that Penn State was in a year ago. Riley and the Trojans will look to avoid suffering the same fate that Franklin and the Lions did last year and having the bottom fall out.
USC narrowly avoided disaster against Washington last week. A victory Saturday night in Happy Valley would go a long way towards ensuring that Riley’s story does not end the same way that Franklin’s did.
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This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC looking to avoid going down the same path as 2025 Penn State
