Well, it’s finally official.
The BCS pairings were announced Sunday night, and the Penn State football team will play USC at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.
In today’s edition of Morelli OnLion, we’ll take a an early look at the New Year’s Day matchup. We’ll also have some more final grades for a pair of offensive units and a look at how the Penn State basketball teams have fared thus far.
Let’s get started with the big news.
The Nittany Lions are headed to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1994.
(Photo courtesy of Blue White Illustrated).
The Granddaddy of them All
The matchup most Nittany Lion fans wanted to see — No. 6 Penn State vs. No. 5 USC in the Rose Bowl — was officially confirmed Sunday night.
It’s not the BCS championship game (the loss at Iowa shattered that dream), but it’s the next best option.
The Nittany Lions (11-1) will meet the Trojans (11-1) at 5 p.m. Jan. 1 in the Rose Bowl on ABC.
College football fans are intrigued by the matchup because of the one common foe the two teams have played — Oregon State.
Penn State pounded visiting Oregon State, 45-14, on Sept. 6. Southern Cal lost its only game when, 19 days later on a Thursday night in Corvallis, Ore., the Beavers jumped on the Trojans early and held on for a 27-21 upset win over then-No. 1 USC.
For the Nittany Lions, this will be their third trip to the Rose Bowl.
The first occurred in 1923, Penn State’s first bowl appearance. USC won that day, 14-3.
Seventy two years later, in 1994, Penn State finished the season 11-0, won the Big Ten championship and earned a Rose Bowl berth opposite Pac-10 champion Oregon. The Nittany Lions completed a 12-0 season with a 38-20 win over the Ducks.
Penn State coach Joe Paterno will look to add to his all-time best
23-10-1 bowl record. Overall, Penn State has compiled a 26-12-2 record all-time in bowl games.
Postseason Grades: Running Backs & Wide Receivers Running Backs Much like the situation at quarterback, many believed that there would be a tailback-by-committee for the Nittany Lions.
That wasn’t the case at all.
Evan Royster was more than capable as the Nittany Lions’ starting running back.
(Photo courtesy of Blue White Illustrated).
Sophomore Evan Royster took the starting job by the horns and didn’t give a second thought to relinquishing it. In the end, Royster finished with 1,202 yards rushing on 185 attempts — 6.5 yards per carry. He scored 12 touchdowns.
His partner in crime, Stephfon Green, showed glimmers of what Lion fans expected to see from him after an explosive Blue-White Game performance. Green finished the year with 521 yards on 95 carries — an average of 5.5 yards per carry. He also scored four touchdowns.
Key Stat: Yards per carry. Both Royster and Green averaged over 5 yards per crack. When you’re getting those kinds of yards on the ground, it opens things up for the passing game.
Comment: Royster and Green are going to make fans forget about the previous regime. Names like Scott, Kinlaw and Hunt are fading fast in the rearview mirror.
Grade: A-
Wide Receivers
Three of the best wideouts to play at Penn State came into their senior years looking to bounce back from a sub-par junior seasons.
They did just that.
Deon Butler caught 43 passes for 713 yards and seven touchdowns, as he averaged 16.6 yards per catch and 59.4 yards per game. In the process, he became Penn State’s all-time receptions leader.
Jordan Norwood overcame a hamstring injury to catch 38 balls for 605 yards and five touchdowns. He averaged 15.9 per catch and 60.5 per game, despite the sore hammy.
And Derrick Williams overcame some drops to haul in 40 balls for 451 yards and three scores. He averaged 11.3 per catch and 37.6 per game.
Key Stat: We’ll go with Butler’s average of 16.6 yards per catch. He became Clark’s favorite target and the best deep threat on the squad.
Comment: Hard to imagine replacing these three, so enjoy the Rose Bowl.
Grade: A-
Disappointing Weekend
The Penn State men’s and women’s basketball teams suffered tough losses over the weekend.
In a rare day-night doubleheader at the Bryce Jordan Center on Saturday, the Lady Lions lost to Dayton, 67-66. Later in the day, the Nittany Lions fell to Temple, 65-59.
For the Lady Lions, the loss was just another speed bump in a bad start to the 2008-09 season. Truth be told, the Lady Lions looked sluggish at the outset of the game and things went south from there.
The squad is now 4-4 and has the daunting task of playing UConn Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
For the men, the loss to Temple was especially bad because there were several big recruits in the house. The Nittany Lions are now 7-2 with a game against Army looming on Thursday.
Chris Morelli is the award-winning editor of Blue White Illustrated, a weekly publication devoted to Penn State athletics. He is also a regular on “Front and Center,” which airs on ESPN Radio in Altoona and State College. E-mail him at morellionlion@gmail.com.