Ten storylines as Penn State relishes Rose Bowl romp

PASADENA, Calif. -- Well, that was fun! Even the most optimistic Penn State fans probably never envisioned the team dominating Utah the way it did during the second half of Monday's 35-21 Rose Bowl victory.

What followed over the next 24 hours has been a continuous after party of praise, hype and promise for the future. There were more than five dozen Penn State reporters out here covering the game, plus many more in the national media, and everybody came away with the same conclusion:

Penn State has a really good team, and the future is extremely bright for the Nittany Lions.

Here are 10 story lines from and after the Rose Bowl.

1. The word I keep using is ... momentum. And the Lions have a ton of it right now

They'll be ranked in the top 10 of the final polls this season. They'll be ranked in the top 10 next preseason. They could have a good shot at the College Football Playoff next season. Then, when the field expands to 12 in 2024, they could make the playoff in any given year.

As I've said for a while now, there are few programs in the country that will benefit more than Penn State from the playoff field expanding. The Lions have never made the four-team College Football Playoff, but they would have made it five of the past seven years had it been a 12-team field.

"With this young group of players they have ... it's hard to imagine Penn State not being in it almost every single year because of the consistency that I think they have in front of them," ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit said Monday.

Now, whether the Lions can win a national title in the coming years remains to be seen. But they should have a seat at the table, and they've got a whole bunch of young studs they'll rely on to lead the way.

Including this guy ...

2. Singleton pulls a Saquon with long TD run

No, Nicholas Singleton's 87-yard TD run wasn't quite as electrifying as this Saquon Barkley masterpiece from the 2017 Rose Bowl. This is as good of a run as you'll ever see in college football.

Still, if you watched the Singleton play unfold in real time, it was immediately clear that, once the hole opened up through the middle of the line and he bounced right, he was he gonna take it to the house. I was fortunate from my view in the press box to have the play coming right toward me, and it was something.

Singleton knew all about Saquon's run -- he's seen it a whole bunch -- and admitted that he did indeed think about it after ripping off his own long TD.

"A little bit, yeah," Singleton said with a smile. "Toward the end of it, I kind of thought about it. Everybody told me about it."

And to be in that company with Saquon?

"It feels good," Singleton said.

I asked Singleton if he has much of a relationship with Barkley and if he thinks he would hear from the NFL star after his big run.

"Probably yeah," Singleton said. "We have a little relationship. We always check with each other."

3. Changing of the guard at QB

It was a pretty cool moment to see as Penn State called timeout with 2:30 remaining so Sean Clifford could get a proper sendoff as he passed the torch on to his heir apparent, Drew Allar.

The fans gave Clifford a standing ovation, which had to be wonderful for him to see after all the ups and downs he's been through during his six-year career.

"It means a lot, just being able to see all my teammates on the sideline with smiles on their faces," Clifford said.

"Just being able to see those faces of my teammates, it just means the world," he added. "Just couldn't be prouder to be a Penn Stater."

James Franklin also put Clifford's fine performance in his finale into perspective.

"I'm just happy for him," Franklin said of the veteran QB. "He's kind of seen it all in his Penn State career, and at Penn State it's important not how we just do it on the football field but in the classroom and in the community, and he's done it with utmost class the entire time. That's what college football is about, and that's what Penn State is about."

4. What about Clifford's legacy? Let's ask his brother

Liam Clifford was on the field for several snaps Monday, and it was shocking that the coaches didn't find a way to call his number so Sean could throw him a pass.

Nevertheless, the younger Clifford was very proud of his older brother. He also got a little carried away when talking about Sean's legacy, but hey, what are brothers for?

"I would personally say that (he's the) greatest Penn State quarterback in history," Liam said. "Obviously, I'm a little biased being his brother. But again, his legacy at Penn State is that. His legacy for me is my best friend."

Clifford's legacy was not exactly considered to be that great coming into the game, despite all of the career records he's set at Penn State. So, I asked Liam about his brother rewriting the final chapter of his legacy.

"His legacy was solidified, and then tonight, he solidified it even more," Liam said. "It was just fun to be be there with him and kind of soak it all up together. It was something that I'll never forget for the rest of my life."

5. KLS ends up-and-down season in tremendous fashion

KeAndre Lambert-Smith had the longest reception in Rose Bowl history, and scored with it for an 88-yard TD.

Before I show you the highlight, I want to do a little humble brag. I swear, this actually happened in the press box, as I had just said this to Mark Brennan from Lions247. I don't try to predict many plays, and was having some fun here, but still ...

Then, this happened:

"It felt great," KLS said. "It was a double move, and we practiced and repped it a lot, so I was expecting to get it and just scoring a touchdown and making a play for my team."

I asked KLS if time slows down or if it feels like slow motion when the ball's in the air and he's waiting for it, knowing he's about to make a big play.

"I'm not gonna lie, on the double move, the ball did feel like it was in the air longer than normal," he said. "But I knew I was gonna catch it, and I'm like, it's a touchdown.

"You got it (on your mind) like don't drop it, don't drop it. But that's an easy catch."

Lambert-Smith didn't have a great season for Penn State as the No. 3 receiver. He had trouble with routes and hanging onto the ball at times and finished with 24 catches for 389 yards and four TDs.

But he did have a sensational finish, and that will go a long way for him. He was asked if his strong finish will change the perception of his season.

"It changed ya'll's perception because I had a better game to end it," he said of the media. "But I mean, I know what I'm capable of, I know what I do. So I mean, ya'll just gonna see more. I keep saying that."

6. What are Lions getting at WR in transfer portal portal pickup Carter?

News broke shortly after the game that Penn State had landed a transfer, as NC State wide receiver Devin Carter committed to the Lions.

This is a solid get for Penn State, but it is not the answer for the team's major need for a No. 1 receiver next season.

Carter caught 25 passes for 406 yards and two TDs this season for NC State. He has 118 catches for 1,906 yards and 10 TDs in four full seasons for the Wolfpack, never with more than 32 catches in a year. He did have six TD catches last season.

Carter is 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, so he has good size.

Carter would seem to be a No. 3 wide receiver for Penn State, although his experience could help him challenge for the No. 2 spot next year. The Lions will be very young at the position with the departures of Parker Washington and Mitchell Tinsley, so Lambert-Smith and Carter could be the leaders of the room. Freshmen Harrison Wallace III and Kaden Saunders perhaps could be big factors if they develop.

Still, we have to assume Penn State is not finished yet in the transfer portal at receiver. The Lions have to find someone who can at least challenge to be a legit No. 1 receiver so that Allar will have a viable option on the outside next year.

Here's some bad news for Penn State: It appears that Kent State wide receiver Dante Cephas will be heading to Pitt as a transfer, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel. Cephas is one of the best receivers available in the transfer portal, and for a while it seemed like he would end up at Penn State.

If the Lions don't get Cephas, you just really have to wonder what will happen at the receiver position next year.

Make no mistake, it could end up being a big problem for the Lions if they don't bring in a high-quality transfer. Maybe Carter can be just that, but we'll have to wait and see.

7. The other side: What might have happened if QB Rising hadn't gotten hurt?

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham confirmed that Cameron Rising suffered a leg injury in the third quarter that knocked him out of the game. Rising was hit after scrambling for a first down. He didn't slide to protect himself, instead choosing to keep going and trying to bear the brunt of a hit.

"The injury to Cam is a leg injury. It doesn't look good, I can tell you that," Whittingham said. "We'll wait for confirmation from the medical people at a later date, either tonight or tomorrow. Looks like it could be something that takes a while to recover from. That's not positive right now."

The big question is just how badly the injury impacted the Utes. Obviously, losing their starting QB hurt from a talent standpoint. But it also appeared to affect them mentally, as well, as they simply were not the same team after the injury and didn't seem to play with the same kind of toughness and perseverance.

You gotta believe that, once they lost their quarterback, the Utah players figured their chances to win were very slim.

"I felt we matched their physicality," Whittingham said. "I don't think that was a problem. That's evident in the run game. They did a decent job running the ball, as we did. I don't think that was something that was a factor in the game."

Ummm, OK. That was a strange thing to say, given that Penn State's defense in particular made things very tough on Utah's offense, and that the Lions' offensive line did a good job upfront all night.

"It was mistakes by our defense at critical times and big plays, like I said, which we typically don't give up," Whittingham said. "We're usually very good keeping things in front of us and not giving up big plays, as evidenced by our No. 1 ranking in the Pac-12 in defense this year."

Nobody would have thought that watching Utah get gashed for 87- and 88-yard touchdowns in this game.

Had Rising not been injured, there is reason to believe Utah would have remained tough, both physically and mentally. I doubt the Utes would have won the game, but you never know.

Once he went out, though, the Utes had no shot, and that was clear. You hate to criticize a player who got injured, but Rising is a veteran quarterback who knows that Penn State plays a very tough, physical style of defense, and it was poor preparation/poor decision making on his part to put his team's hopes on the line by not sliding and enhancing the risk of getting injured.

8. Congrats to DeLuca for being put on scholarship

Redshirt freshman linebacker Dominic DeLuca has been placed on scholarship, according to published reports, which is a great thing for that young man.

DeLuca appeared in all 13 games and made 29 tackles (18 solo) with two tackles for loss, one sack and one pass defended.

He was the developmental squad's defensive player of the year in 2021, so his hard work has really paid off during his two seasons to earn him a scholarship.

9. Cannot say enough good things about Manny Diaz

We don't get many opportunities for one-on-one interviews on the Penn State beat because there are just so many reporters. But with the locker room being open after the game because it was a New Year's Six bowl, I took some time to pick Diaz's brain about his defense.

As I've said for some time, Diaz is just a very, very impressive individual. He is as polished of an assistant coach as I've ever dealt with in any sport, which makes sense because he's really not an assistant coach. Manny Diaz is a head coach who just so happens to be an assistant at this time, and Penn State is damn lucky to have him.

I don't know everything that went on with Diaz during his head coaching tenure at Miami. But I do know that it won't be long before somebody else gives him another shot to be a head coach.

I asked Diaz if he could have envisioned Penn State being this good so quickly, particularly on defense, when he came on board a year ago.

"Well, you never know," he said. "Because you don't really know what you have in the locker room. You don't really know. I was first year on the job. Almost through September, you don't really know who you are. But I think we learned a lot about who we were in September.

"The one thing we learned throughout the season, we just kept getting better and better," Diaz added. "We talked today about learning from the Ohio State game when we didn't close the deal, and that had been our big point was tonight to be closers."

10. Yurcich has great comment when asked about the future

I offered up what I thought was a softball question to offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich when I said, "How promising is the future of this program right now?"

He gave a great response that still makes me laugh.

"I'm not Nostradamus," he deadpanned.

Hey, that's pretty darn clever. Well done.

But Yurcich did at least follow up by adding this:

"I'm not going to predict anything, but I like where we're at, and I like where we're heading."

That pretty much sums up how everyone feels about the Penn State program right now.