Penn State report card for USC: Lions’ ‘D’ wakes up late, Tyler Warren puts Trojans to sleep

Six games, six wins. Penn State owns road wins over West Virginia and USC.

The latter victory, accomplished on Saturday at LA Coliseum, ranks as one of the more impressive wins during James Franklin’s time in State College.

PSU’s offense scored a late touchdown to force overtime, and the Lions prevailed, 33-30.

Lincoln Riley’s Trojans made their share of plays against Penn State, but the Lions made the biggest plays late.

To the grades.

OFFENSE: B.

Three turnovers, all of them Drew Allar interceptions, kept PSU from taking control earlier. Allar, however, did throw for 391 yards and two touchdowns and added 32 rushing yards. … Allar teamed up with wideout Julian Fleming to convert a fourth and seven and a fourth and 10 on the Lions’ TD drive that forced OT. … Running backs Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton struggled to gain traction, finishing with 26 combined carries for 82 yards. … Tyler Warren caught 17 of 20 targets for 224 yards and a touchdown, ran for a first down and threw a nine-yard pass to Allen. … PSU converted just 4 of 13 third-down chances. … No sacks for USC but the Lions’ offense managed just a pair of field goals in the first half.

DEFENSE: B-minus.

The unit foiled a USC drive late in regulation to force overtime and then registered a three-and-out that led to a 45-yard miss by Trojans kicker Michael Lantz. … Tom Allen’s group was not ready for Quinten Joyner’s 75-yard touchdown run on a first-quarter reverse. … USC converted just 2 of 13 third-down tries. … Trojans running Woody Marks was a problem in the run game (111 yards) and as a receiver (two catches, 44 yards).

SPECIAL TEAMS: A.

Ryan Barker, who replaced Sander Sahaydak as the placekicker, converted all four field-goal attempts (34, 33, 20, 36). … Punter Riley Thompson only punted twice, averaging 42.5 yards and forcing USC to start inside its 20 on both kicks.

COACHING: B.

Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki reached deep into his bag of tricks from the start. The highlight? Warren snapped a ball on a play that ended up with Allar throwing a 32-yard touchdown pass to, um, Warren. … Lions’ offense stayed aggressive on fourth down, converting a fourth and seven and fourth and 10 on a game-tying touchdown drive in the final minutes.

OVERALL: B

Penn State had major issues in the first half as the Lions fell behind 20-6. But Kotelnicki’s offense came out flying in the third quarter, scoring touchdowns on its first two possessions. It was an improbable comeback, but the Lions were able to finish off a desperate USC team. Warren finished with 224 receiving yards and Penn State all of them in a three-point win. The big guy just may be deserving of a trip to New York City in December.