USC and Penn State were not playing for the national championship.

But an argument could be made that the best football game of the bowl season took place Monday at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

USC outscored Penn State 17-0 in the fourth quarter, including 10 points in the last 80 seconds of the game to outlast the very feisty Nittany Lions in the 2017 Rose Bowl.

USC quarterback Sam Darnold, a San Clemente High product, threw for 453 yards and 5 touchdown passes.

Darnold’s 27-yard TD pass to Compton’s Deontay Burnett with 1:20 to play in the game tied the Nittany Lions at 49-49.

But the most dramatic moment came exactly 80 seconds later when Matt Boermeester converted on a walk-off 46-yard field goal to give the Trojans what many in the media are calling an “epic victory.”

Penn State deserves as much credit for making this game as special as it was.

PSU (11-3) scored all 49 of its points in the second and third quarters, and led by as many as 15 (42-27) in the third quarter.

Burnett had a career day with 13 catches for 164 yards and 3 TD catches, including scoring catches of 26, 3 and 27 yards for the Trojans.

The USC sophomore had just one TD reception the entire season, and yet he was able to corral 3 scored Monday before a national audience.

Darnold finished 33 of 53 for 453 yards, the 5 TD passes and one interception, however, the third-quarter pick was a deflected pass that Brandon Bell scooped up and took 24 yards to the Trojans 4-yard line.

Chase McSorley threw for 254 yards, 4 TD passes and rushed for another, but the PSU quarterback had three interceptions.

PSU’s Chris Goodwin had a game-high 187 yards receiving on 9 catches. He scored on receptions of 30 and 72 yards, respectively.

Boermeester had field goals of 22, 44 and the 46-yard game winner as time expired for the Trojans (10-3).

Long Beach Poly High’s JuJu Smith-Schuster was, according to some in the media, a game-time decision, and some even wrote that he shouldn’t play because of his injuries so he could protect his future in the NFL.

But Smith-Schuster wasn’t hearing any of it, and had 133 yards receiving on 7 catches, which included a 13-yard TD from Darnold.

PSU’s Saquon Barkley had more rushing yards (194 on 25 carries) than USC. Barkley scored on runs of 24 and 79 yards, and caught another TD of 7 yards from McSorley.

USC had advantages in total yards (575-465), time of possession (33:21-26:39) and had 33 first downs compared to 23 for the Nittany Lions.

The Pac-12 went 3-3 in bowl games this year, while the Big 10 had just three victories in 10 games played.

Penn State will fly home dejected, but they were 50-percent responsible for one of the best Bowls games in modern era, not just the Rose Bowl.

Box Score:
USC: 13-14-8-17-(52)
PSU: 0-21-28-0-(49)