Another week has passed and the Penn State Nittany Lions have lost another heartbreaking game. They stayed competitive for all four quarters against USC, but a late fumble and defensive penalty were too much for them to overcome.
It wasn’t all bad for Penn State though, despite the painful loss. The offense was finally able to move the ball again, so every stat wasn’t skewed heavily in the Trojans’ favor. Like always, there are some things from this game to build on and a few things to correct going forward.
Let’s look at a few key stats that told the story of the game.
Fourth-down conversions
This stat can be great or concerning for Penn State depending on how you look at it, but we’ll take the positive perspective here. The blue and white converted all five of their
fourth-down attempts which helped them try to keep pace with a high-octane USC offense.
Head coach Matt Campbell knew field goals and punts wouldn’t be good enough to beat a high-scoring team like that, so he was ultra-aggressive all game long. It didn’t produce a win, but it was nice to see Campbell pushing the issue.
Rushing yards
It’s clear that the Nittany Lions believed they would be in a shootout on Saturday night, as evidenced by only 21 designed handoffs to running backs for 48 yards. The team couldn’t get anything going on the ground, and at some point they gave up trying to gain yards that way.
It’s unclear whether it was because they lost faith in their ability to run or they were just trying to keep up with USC’s offense. But this has been a trend for weeks now with Penn State and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better.
Turnovers
There was only one turnover in this entire game, but it came at the costliest time for Penn State. Wide receiver Brett Eskildsen caught a pass down the field in the fourth quarter during the team’s comeback attempt, but he got the ball punched out and the offense never saw the field again.
The Nittany Lions never turned the ball over in the first three games of the season, but they can’t stop giving the ball away at the worst times over the last three weeks. In order to win a game in the Big Ten, they have to stop beating themselves first.
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This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Key stats that contributed to Penn State’s loss to USC
