James Franklin describes why this year's Rose Bowl was so special

Monday’s Rose Bowl between the Pac-12 champions, the Utah Utes, and the Big Ten’s Penn State could be the final Rose Bowl pitting the two conferences against one another. And after securing another victory in the name of the Big Ten, the Nittany Lions capped off their season in a big way. After the game, Penn State head coach James Franklin described why this year’s Rose Bowl was so special, given the change that could be on the horizon.

“Yeah, it’s not only there, but I also understand that it’s the 100-year anniversary of Penn State playing in this in 1923 as well,” said Franklin. “So, just so much tradition and history with this bowl. And then, obviously, (it’s) specific to Penn State.

“And playing Utah. There’s not too many things in 2023 where you can say it’s never happened before; Penn State had never played Utah before. So a lot of really cool things, but most importantly, I’m so proud of these guys and how they handled themselves.”

The Nittany Lions’ first-ever trip to Pasadena did not end the way they would have hoped, losing to USC 14-3. However, this time around, Penn State more than made up for it. Penn State defeated Utah 35-21, in large part thanks to their defense. The Nittany Lions allowed the Utes just 207 yards passing in the game and recorded two interceptions. Along with their defense, Big Ten freshman of the year running back Nick Singleton put on a show, recording seven carries for 120 yards and two touchdowns.

Franklin on winning the Rose Bowl

After the game, Franklin and his team celebrated the victory on the sidelines with a traditional Gatorade bath — as cameras showed the coach desperately trying to avoid it and tackling one of his players in the fun moment. While trying to dry himself off, ESPN’s Holly Rowe asked Franklin how it felt trying to escape the traditional coach’s bath.

“Yeah I’m just happy for our guys,” answered Franklin. “Come out and here and play that team, got so much respect for Utah and Coach [Kyle] Whittingham. Out here on the road it was basically a home game for them. And our guys played their tails off, I’m just so proud of them — offense, defense and special teams.”

Franklin was then asked about his defense’s second-half performance as they ramped up the pressure on Utah’s passing game — unfortunately as they were missing starting quarterback Cameron Rising due to injury.

“Yeah… [pressure] was the difference in the second half. We were able to get pressure on the quarterback which we weren’t able to do, through not only just four down but also bringing pressure.”