Penn State dashes Utah’s Rose Bowl dream

PASADENA (News4usonline) – The first half of the 2023 Rose Bowl Game between No. 8 Utah and No. 11 Penn State, played out pretty evenly, despite the fact that the Nittany Lions walked into intermission with a seven-point lead. Two plays changed that dynamic. 

It was those plays that helped Penn State to topple Utah 35-21 at the Rose Bowl Stadium on Jan. 2,  Running Back Singleton did the honors for Penn State for the first big play, hitting the hole in the heart of Utah’s defense and sprinted 87 yards to paydirt for a Nittany Lions touchdown. 

Singleton’s long run gave Penn State a score cushion until the beginning of the fourth quarter. That’s when wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith took a pass from Sean Clifford in stride and raced 88 yards for another Nittany Lions touchdown. 

The Lambert-Smith touchdown made it a two-score contest in the final period. Utah was not able to recover from those two body blows. 

“Yeah, you know, when you’re playing a defense like that where it’s hard to get yards, you’re going to have a difficult time going on a 16-play, 80-yard drive against that defense. You’re going to have to create some explosive plays,” Penn State head coach James Franklin said. 

He continued, “It’s interesting they were in cover zero, and we actually did a fake check where we were looking to the sideline and then snapped the ball. We did something similar with Saquon Barkley in the Fiesta Bowl a few years ago. Caught them in cover zero. And they were in a bear front, which I wouldn’t say is the ideal front to run that play into, but once you crease them with Nick’s speed, you’re able to obviously make a huge play and swing the momentum in the game. Then KeAndre, as well.”

Penn State got into the Rose Bowl Game as the third wheel in the Big Ten Conference, finishing behind Ohio State and Michigan, both of whom had semifinal dates in the College Football Playoff system.

Both the Wolverines and the Buckeyes failed to make it to the championship round after experiencing defeat at the hands of TCU and Georgia, respectively. 

Some might say or suggest Penn State kind of backed into the Rose Bowl Game. With that said, it’s hard to refute the Nittany Lions’ record. Penn State finished the season with an 11-2 mark. Penn State’s only two losses were to Michigan and to Ohio State. The Nittany Lions validated their appearance in the Rose Bowl Game by easily handling the Pac-12 Conference champs.  

“I’m just proud of these guys,” Franklin said. “I was here in 2016, one of the better Rose Bowl games, and watched somebody else celebrate, and I wanted this for them. I couldn’t have wrote the script any better for Sean Clifford to be the offensive MVP, and my man Tig to be the defensive MVP. It’s awesome, sending these guys out the right way, in a time in college football that I think it’s more challenging than ever.”

Utah came into the game making their second straight appearance in the Rose Bowl Game. The Utes lost a close matchup against Ohio State in last season’s Rose Bowl Game. This was supposed to have a better ending. 

That didn’t happen because Penn State came up with six sacks and two interceptions for the game. Adding to the woes of Utah, quarterback Cameron Rising was knocked out of the game in the third quarter.

 Statistically, Utah held its own against Penn State. The Utes had more first downs (23-15), ran more plays (83-53), and operated with more time on the clock (35:13-24:47) than the Nittany Lions. 

However, when it came down to making the plays when it counted, Penn State won out. Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham was asked after the game if the Nittany Lions were more physical than his ballclub. 

That wasn’t the case at all, Whittingham said.    

No, I felt we matched their physicality,” Whittingham remarked. “I don’t think that was a problem. That’s evidence 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. It was mistakes by our defense at critical times and big plays, like I said, which we typically don’t give up. 

“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. But tonight just weren’t good enough limiting big plays by the opponent.”