Smell the roses Penn State fans!
On Sunday afternoon, the Penn State Football team officially learned they''ll be headed to Pasadena for a matchup against the Pac-12 champions, the Utah Utes.
The Nittany Lions (10-2) entered the weekend looking at a potential Cotton Bowl matchup with Tulane, however, with USC losing to Utah in the Pac-2 Championship game on Friday night, everything changed. With USC's loss, the Ohio State Buckeyes moved up to the No. 4 spot and will be in this year's College Football Playoff alongside Georgia, Michigan, and TCU.
With both the Wolverines and Buckeyes in the playoffs, the Nittany Lions, the College Football Playoff committee's No.11 team is the best Big Ten team remaining, allowing them to head to Pasadena.
Despite making the Rose Bowl, the Nittany Lions fell three spots in the final College Football Playoff rankings from No.8 to No.11. Clemson, Utah, and Kansas State all jumped the Nittany Lions in the process while USC dropped six spots from No. 4 to No. 10.
The 108th Rose Bowl will be played on January 2 2023 at 5:00 p.m. EST.
Penn State's Rose Bowl history and bowl game history under James Franklin...
The matchup between Penn State and Utah will be the first time the two programs have met. The trip to Pasadena will be the fifth time that the program has made the trip, the last coming in the 2016 season, a 52-49 loss to USC. The Nittany Lions also made the 1923, 1995, and 2009 Rose Bowls. All-time they're 1-3 in their four previous trips.
For James Franklin, it will mark the fourth New Years Six game that he has led the program to. The Nittany Lions previously made the Rose Bowl as mentioned above in 2016 but also the Fiesta Bowl in 2017 and the Cotton Bowl in 2019. Under Franklin, the Nittany Lions are 1-2 in those three New Years Six bowl games and 3-4 in seven bowl games overall.
What to know about Utah:
Now in their 19th season under head coach Kyle Whittingham, the Utes are 10-3 on the season, etching their third 10+ win season in four years. This year, the Utes started their season off with a 29-26 loss to Florida before winning four straight including a win over the top-25 ranked Oregon State Beavers. They'd lose to UCLA in early October but would then win six of their last seven which includes two wins over USC. Their lone loss over their last seven games came to Oregon, a close one in Eugene, 20-17.
The Utes will enter the Rose Bowl with one of the country's top offenses, averaging 40.0 points and 472 yards per game. A tough, physical team, the Utes love to run the ball, averaging 220 yards per game including 5.5 yards per carry. But they're just as dangerous passing the ball, averaging 252 yards a game. Quarterback Cameron Rising had a strong regular season for the Utes, completing 66.2% of his passes for 2,939 yards and 25 touchdowns with just seven interceptions.
Defensively, Utah is a stringent defense, allowing just 20.4 points per game this season. Incredibly tough against the run, the Utes have kept opposing offenses to just 107 yards per game on the ground. Their secondary does allow 60% of passes to be completed but has only allowed 218.3 yards per game through the air. Great at causing chaos, the Utes have totaled 24 turnovers this year as well as 38 sacks and 83 tackles for a loss in their 13 games.
It will be the second trip all-time for Utah to the Rose Bowl after the Utes made the trip last season, falling to Ohio State 48-45. The Utes all-time under head coach Kyle Whittingham are 11-4 in bowl games but have lost each of their last three.
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