Last Saturday night, the USC football team defeated Penn State 31-23 in State College, Pennsylvania. With the victory, the Trojans improved to 6-1 on the 2026 season and 3-1 in Big Ten play.

Shortly prior to kickoff, USC suffered a major blow when starting left tackle Elijah Paige was ruled out with an injury. However, true freshman Vlad Dyakonov stepped in and performed remarkably well, with the unit barely missing a beat.

In his weekly appearance on USC’s “Trojans Live” show this past Monday, head coach Lincoln Riley discussed Dyakonov’s performance.

“Vlad's contribution was obviously massive in a game like that,” Riley said. “He's still learning to play the position, and he's still growing as a player, but competitively, this guy doesn't flinch, and he brings energy and competitiveness every single day. It was kind of a unique circumstance. We were very surprised that it came to that, but at the same time, your next guy's got to be ready to go, and Vlad didn't flinch.”

After seven games in seven weeks, USC is currently enjoying a much-needed week off. The Trojans will then resume Big Ten play with a trip to Wisconsin next Saturday.