PASADENA, Calif. -- What. A. Statement. Not only was it a tremendous way to end a memorable season that caught many people by surprise, but also a springboard to what just about everyone believes will be a very bright future.
We've wondered all along just how good Penn State really is, because it didn't have a signature win this season.
Yeah, yeah the Nittany Lions were 10-2 and ranked No. 11 in the country. But they hadn't beaten anybody.
Well, now they have.
Badly.
The Lions didn't just get a signature win in the Rose Bowl. They got a signature whooping Monday night, pounding No. 8 Utah, 35-21, thanks to a dominant second half and two of the greatest bowl game plays in program history.
"You couldn't write a better story than this," center Juice Scruggs said. "Just for us to come out here and go out on top as Rose Bowl champs, I couldn't even picture this, to be honest with you. I'm just I'm lost for words, to be honest with you. We're just so happy right now."
Everybody said the Lions and Utah were evenly matched, and that seemed to be the case with the score tied 14-14 at the half.
Then this happened with 9:25 left in the third quarter, an 87-yard breakway by Nicholas Singleton for a 21-14 lead.
Third longest TD run in @RoseBowlGame history π€― pic.twitter.com/xPsitG81x1
β Penn State FootballπΉ (@PennStateFball) January 3, 2023
"Once I passed the safety, like, once I make a move and I don't really have no one near me, that's when I kind of feel like I'm gone," Singleton said. "Crazy. I just feel really hyped (at the end of the run)."
Then, in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter, there was this 88-yard beauty from Sean Clifford to KeAndre Lambert-Smith.
Sean Clifford. KeAndre Lambert-Smith. 88 yards on the first snap of the fourth quarter. What a thing of beauty. pic.twitter.com/WThkZoZgXl
β Dean Straka (@DWStraka49) January 3, 2023
"Sean put it up pretty pretty early, so when I looked back, the ball was in the air," Lambert-Smith said. "So I was like, oh. But you know, I gotta say, it's a great feeling. We repped a lot and happy to capitalize on it."
That's exactly what Penn State did in this Rose Bowl -- capitalized on the opportunity.
You can make a case that, even if the Lions had lost, it wouldn't have been all that bad. Because this would have been a successful season with the Rose Bowl appearance.
But winning this game -- and routing a good Utah team -- means that the Lions have put the rest of the country on notice about how good they really were this season, and how good they could be in the coming years.
Gone now is the disappointment of the 11-11 record the past two years, because now, there's so much hope for the future, especially with the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 in two years.
And hey, maybe Penn State won't have to wait that long to get there.
"I just feel like we brought Penn State back," Scruggs said. "I'm just ready to see what they do next year."
Those two huge touchdown plays changed everything in the game for Penn State. And in between those plays, everything changed for Utah when quarterback Cameron Rising got hurt after scrambling for a first down on the ensuing series.
On third-and-7 from the Utah 28, Rising took off and picked up 9 yards. But instead of sliding to protect himself after getting the first down, he decided to go head on into a group of Penn State defenders.
It may have been a display of toughness by the quarterback, but it was not a smart football play by Rising. He was knocked out of the game with an injury, and without him, the Utes never really had a chance against Penn State's strong defense.
It was the second consecutive Rose Bowl that Rising was knocked out of by injury. Last year against Ohio State, the game was tied at 38 when Rising suffered a concussion with 9:45 left to play. The Buckeyes wound up winning, 48-45.
Rising is really good, and in this game, Utah's offense couldn't muster much because of the big dropoff to backup QB Bryson Barnes.
"It felt like that was sort of a major momentum shift," Penn State defensive coordinator Manny Diaz said of Rising's injury. "We have a ton of respect for him, and you hate to see someone of his caliber not be able to finish the game. But we also had a lot of respect for the backup because the way he had played when he had had his chances in the year.
"So, the first thing we told our guys was, 'Hey, this guy can play, too.'"
Barnes looked OK for a few plays, but after getting Utah to the Penn State 46, he threw a bad pass down the left sideline that was picked off by Ji'Ayir Brown.
After that play, there never really seemed like much of a chance that the Utes' offense would seriously challenge Penn State's defense. That turned out to be the case, too, until Utah scored a meaningless touchdown with less than a minute to go.
"Obviously with Brown making the big interception, that helped," Diaz said of his defense taking control. "And I will say this, our guys felt that we had a chance to take control of the game, regardless of who's playing quarterback."
Penn State's offense started to click and was led by good Sean Clifford on this night. Clifford was very good, in fact, winding up his long career with a stellar performance, completing 16 of 22 passes for 279 yards and two TDs.
The final touchdown pass of Clifford's career was the 88-yarder to Lambert-Smith in the fourth quarter, which was interesting because he has struggled with deep throws throughout much of his career but delivered this one on the money to the wide-open receiver.
"I'm just happy for our guys," James Franklin said. "To come out here and play that team, got so much respect for Utah and Coach (Kyle) Whittingham. Out here on the road, it's basically a home game for them, and our guys played their tails off. I'm just so proud of them -- offense, defense and special teams."
MORE FROM THE GAME
β’ Clifford was named the offensive MVP, while Brown was defensive MVP. Both played their final college game.
β’ Singleton finished with 120 yards on only seven carries, but 87 of those were on his highlight-reel TD.
"First of all, the linemen did a great job doing the blocks," said Singleton, who had a big hole to run through on the right side on third-and-2 from the Utah 13. "Once I pass them on the second level, I just saw green grass."
β’ Offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich had a phenomenal description of Singleton's touchdown play, which didn't look like it was going to work at all.
"Third-and-2, didn't have great field position, so we weren't risking turnover," Yurcich said. "But when they lined up, I think they were in an all-out blitz. So, I was like, oh shit, this sucks. We're down two hats. This is not good.
"But the play is a little tricky, so we tried to fool them. Then we caught them off guard, and our guys executed. And at the end of the day, it's really not the plays, it's about your execution. We called plays we repped 100 million times in bowl prep, and when you're able to do that, you give your guys the best chance of success. Because you might not be in a great call, but you out-execute the defense."
"That happened on the two-minute drive and Purdue first win of the year, where we called a base call and out-executed them. And then on this particular play. Both against cover zero, which means no safety side, too many freaking people up there. And we just out-executed them. Guys made plays, and that's the name of the game."
β’ Franklin and all the Penn State players wore No. 34 jerseys to the stadium, to honor Penn State legend Franco Harris, who died last week. Harris wore No. 34 during his Penn State career in the early 1970s.
PENN STATE ATHLETICS
James Franklin wears Franco Harris' No. 34 Penn State jersey, along with former Penn State and Steelers legend Jack Ham, who's now a broadcaster for the Lions.
THE ESSENTIALS
β’ Box score
β’ Live file
β’ Scoreboard
β’ Schedule
β’ Standings
β’ Statistics
THE INJURY REPORT
LT Olu Fashanu did not play. He missed the final five games of the season.
WR Parker Washington did not play because of a leg injury. He has already declared for the NFL draft.
CB Johnny Dixon and CB Kalen King both got banged up in the first half but were able to return.
THE SCHEDULE
Penn State wrapped up its season with an 11-2 record.
The Nittany Lions will play the Blue-White Game on April 15, then the 2023 season opener will be against West Virginia on Sept. 2 at Beaver Stadium.
THE CONTENT
Visit our Penn State team page for everything.
