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If you were a Penn State fan watching this weekend’s game against USC, you would be forgiven for thinking you have seen this script before. A highly-ranked Penn State team taking on a team with offensive skills, getting off to a slow start and falling behind early has resulted in a disappointing loss and harsh criticism of head coach James Franklin often enough to be expected in situations like what we witnessed on Saturday.
But this time was different. Penn State rallied from a 14-point deficit at halftime and answered a late touchdown by USC to come back and tie things up before ultimately winning in overtime. As Franklin and the team celebrated “Soul Plane” style all the way back home, USC head coach Lincoln Riley and the Trojans were the headline subject of this week’s misery index column from USA TODAY writer Dan Wolken.
“USC fans can handle some lean years. Goodness knows, they’ve had more than a few over the last decade,” Wolken said. “Even now, with the Trojans sitting at 3-3 after a 33-30 overtime loss to Penn State, there’s a way to spin this positively.”
Wolken goes on to suggest USC’s three losses have been tight ones, which is fair with close losses to Michigan, Minnesota, and now Penn State. USC is probably a few plays away from a 6-0 record instead of Penn State being one of the three remaining undefeated teams in the Big Ten. Of course, as Penn State fans have seen over the years with Franklin, the head coach is going to take the brunt of the attack when close losses in big spots become a disturbing trend.
“Under the right circumstances and with the right public relations strategy, Riley could be a sympathetic figure for a semi-rebuilding, gutty underdog USC,” Wolken wrote. “But you don’t get the benefit of the doubt when the most interesting thing that happens every week…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/penn-state-sent-usc-top-151531472.html
Author : Nittany Lions Wire
Publish date : 2024-10-13 15:15:31
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