Penn State football's pass rush problem spelled doom in loss to USC

STATE COLLEGE − Penn State football has a pass rush problem, and nowhere was it more evident than in its 31-23 loss to USC.

In front of the biggest recorded crowd in Beaver Stadium − 114,419 announced − the Nittany Lions defense was picked apart by USC quarterback Jayden Maiava. All night long, the Lions struggled to contain or pressure the senior quarterback as he took his time racking up 301 yards and three touchdowns on 21-for-33 passing.

For a time, the Lions seemed to mitigate, albeit not fully contain Maiava. He completed four of his last 10 pass attempts before halftime for 90 yards. But USC adjusted, and Penn State stuck to a three-man rush that failed to contain Maiava and let a flock of Trojan receivers run rampant to spoil the White Out game for the second year in a row.

"We tried to have some multiplicity in terms of what we were doing, especially for the quarterback," head coach Matt Campbell said. "Some of the biggest killers were some of the third down opportunities that we weren't able to finish on. The 3rd-and-10, 3rd-and-12, 3rd-and-13 opportunities, getting them to those points and not finishing − those were the biggest killers."

USC went 5-for-11 on third down conversions Saturday night. All five successful conversions came off a pass by Maiava, including the 10-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter that put the put the game out of reach for Penn State. Maiava was sacked once by Tony Rojas in the first quarter, and the defensive line only hurried him a single time all game.

It's not that Penn State's pass rush was bad against USC. It was nonexistent. The Lions couldn't shut down the Trojans ' passing game, which put pressure on their own offense to pick up the slack. An offense which still didn't have a definitive rushing identity Saturday and struggled to convert on third down. And when the three-man rush didn't work, the Lions refused to change up their gameplan and stuck to the same routine that let Maiava run wild in the pocket.

"We all just need to continue to get better," defensive end Yvan Kemajou, who recorded the Lions' only quarterback hurry of the game, said. "We've got to be more detailed. We've got to make sure we know what we're doing, that we're tackling and finishing."

Kemajou doesn't believe it's a conditioning problem. Neither does Campbell. Maybe so, but the Lions are far from where they need to be to stack up defensively while being three games deep into their Big Ten schedule. Campbell remains frustrated that the pieces haven't fit together yet, even as the Lions have wrapped the first half of their season. Three losses to open Big Ten play, no matter the score, speak volumes.

Jack Gleckler covers high school sports and Penn State football. Reach him at JGleckler@nncogannett.com.