Penn State is preparing to play what looks to be its toughest game of the season against USC. The Trojans are in town for the annual White Out game, but the buzz has rightfully quelled in the last two weeks.
Penn State’s entire operation has been a disaster for the last couple of games, and USC is at danger of losing any given week because of its porous defense. A game that was projected to be between two top-25 schools at the start of the season has now been reduced to a matchup between an unranked school and another clinging to its ranking.
There is an interesting dichotomy between the Nittany Lions’ struggling offense and the Trojans’ struggling defense, so let’s look at some stats that might determine which of those two units flip the tide.
Sacks
Penn State offense: sacked 6 times
USC defense: 12 sacks
USC’s pressure has been inconsistent this season, but they are coming off one of their best games of the season. They tallied five sacks against the Washington Huskies last week and could put up a repeat performance against Penn State.
Nittany Lions quarterback Rocco Becht has been under more and more pressure each week, and this could finally be the game where the pass rush gets home consistently. Penn State’s offensive line has been shoddy lately, so this stat will likely swing the game.
Third-down conversion rate
Penn State offense: 39.4%
USC defense: 32.7%
Despite the Trojans having one of the worst defenses in the Big Ten, they’ve been pretty good on third downs. Even against Washington, who they only beat by four points, USC held them to 1-of-12 on third down.
This has been an area of weakness lately for Penn State, going just 14-of-43 on third downs in the last three weeks. Becht and the offense are going to need to extend drives against an explosive USC offense, so this is a trend that can’t continue if they are going to win this game.
Points per game
Penn State offense: 32 points per game
USC defense: 25.5 points per game
The stoppable force vs. the moveable object is going to be an excellent battle to watch. Penn State has only scored 16 points in the last seven quarters of football, and USC is giving up 32.3 points per game in the last three weeks.
The Nittany Lions offense has struggled to move the ball at any critical moment of its games, but the Trojans can’t stop anyone regardless of their talent level. If Penn State is still struggling to score this week, then it will tell us a lot about where this team is.
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This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Penn State offense trying to regroup vs. struggling USC defense
