The 95th Annual Rose Bowl Game
vs. 
Southern California 38
Penn State 24
Thursday, January 1st, 2009
The Rose Bowl
Pasadena, California
There’s an old adage that says be careful what you wish for. In this case, Penn state probably got more than they wanted in an extremely game USC team on a national stage. The Trojans dominated the Lions 38-24 in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the score or the stats indicate in the 92nd Rose Bowl Game on Thursday afternoon in Pasadena, California.
The 2009 Rose Bowl
GAME RECAP
After much build-up, game time finally arrived in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. It had been almost six weeks since Penn State had taken the field and there were two main storyline heading into the game.
The first was the general consensus that USC didn’t want to be at the Rose Bowl. Despite head coach Pete Carroll insisting that their goal every year is to get to the Rose Bowl, the national perception for the team was that they should be playing in Miami for the national title, and were only in Pasadena due to the weaker Pac-10 conference that they were champions of.
The other primary storyline was Penn State head coach Joe Paterno and his ailing leg, which he had operated on the day after the Michigan State game. Before the game, Paterno didn’t come onto the field for stretches and didn’t do a required interview. The interview, and the fact that he did not open the locker room up to reporters after the game could end up costing Penn State over $10,000 in fines. Both violations are required for teams participating in BCS bowl games.
On to the game, USC won the toss and deferred to the second half and gave Penn State the ball. After the teams traded three and outs, USC was the first to score on an 11-play, 86 yard drive that culminated in a 27 yard Mark Sanchez to Damian Williams to make it 7-0. The drive appeared stopped 4 plays into it when PSU DE Aaron Maybin stripped the ball from Sanchez as he came off the edge. But the play had been blown dead as he was lined up offsides. It would be the first of many costly penalties during the game for Penn State.
On the drive after USC scored, Penn State would answer going 80 yards in nine plays, capped off by a Darryl Clark touchdown run of nine yards. The first quarter had now expired, and the game was tied at seven, but the suspense was about to be over.
USC’s first drive of the second quarter went for 65 yards on just six plays in 2:37. On the sixth play, Penn State had a chance to stop USC on 3rd and 3 at the six, but Mark Sanchez bolted up the middle for the score. After a Penn State three-and-out, USC took the ball down the field again for a 30-yard field goal.
Penn State’s next drive ended when the Lions failed to convert a 3rd and 2, and the Trojans had the ball again. 67 yards later, it was 24-7 Trojans and the flood gates were opened. On the Nittany Lions’ ensuing possession, Stephfon Green fumbled on the first play and USC would cash in again, scoring another touchdown before the half.
24 points and 261 yards (217 passing) in one quarter. That is a pretty good way to get beat, especially in a quarter where you’ve outscored your opponents during the season by the score of 182-51 coming into the game. Simply stunning.
Penn State controlled second half, scoring 17 points on a Kevin Kelly field goal and touchdown receptions by Jordan Norwood and Derrick Williams. A late fourth-quarter comeback fell short after USC sandwiched another passing touchdown between the Lions’ scores.
The final score was USC 38, Penn State 24.
LINKS TO THE GOOD STUFF
Game highlights courtesy of the Big Ten Network
We will have more pitctres of this, and the week that was, courtesy of EmiLy who was in SoCal for the event. Look for them in the next few weeks and on Flickr.
UPON FURTHER REVIEW
It’s hard to imagine Penn State winning this game even if they hadn’t committed all the penalties and the turnovers. I really expected Penn State to win those two battles and they didn’t, and it cost them dearly. Mark Sanchez played one of the best football games at quarterback I’ve ever seen (pro or amateur), and he and USC did something I waited for a team to do all year long against PSU; expose the secondary. If Ohio State could have thrown the ball, they would have beat us. Iowa did, and they ran effectively, and beat us; that game was the perfect storm. No excuses here, USC is the better team, and they were the much better team on this day. I still believe that Penn State could (I emphasize could) beat them if they lined up for a game, but it was clear to see that on this day it was just going to be another Southern California day in Southern California. The Trojans have won a remarkable 5 of the last six Rose Bowls, what more can you say about this?
THE BIG TEN IN BOWL GAMES
- Champs Sports Bowl: Wisconsin loses to Florida State, 42-13
- Alamo Bowl: Northwestern loses to Missouri in overtime, 30-23
- Insight Bowl: Minnesota loses to Kansas, 42-21
- Outback Bowl: Iowa defeats South Carolina, 31-10
- Capital One Bowl: Michigan State loses to Georgia, 24-12
- Fiesta Bowl: Ohio State vs. Texas, Monday night at 8pm
IN SUMMARY
The Lions finish 11-2, with both losses to teams that won New Year’s Day bowl games… not a bad year. This game will leave terrible tastes in all of our mouths for months, but it is important to remember that there was more to this year than this game. The win at Ohio State was extremely special and those two amazing ten minute bursts at home against Michigan and Michigan State are the two things I will remember most about this year’s team. We like college sports because they are supposed to be pure, and that’s what everything is about. A Rose Bowl season is something special, and the kids, fans and the program will never forget the trip to Pasadena and the journey that was required to get there. From a team that wasn’t supposed to be in the top three in their own conference to the biggest bowl game there is, 2008 can only be described as a great success for this group of Nittany Lions.
We’ll have a few more posts in the next few weeks to round out the season and then we’ll see you on the last Saturday of April.
We (still) are…
