How good is 11-2 Penn State? Lions prevail in final traditional Rose Bowl, and more of what they're saying

LOS ANGELES — Penn State football ended its 2022 season with an exclamation point on Monday when it topped Utah 35-21 in the Rose Bowl. The Nittany Lions were an underdog for the entire stretch before kickoff until game day, when they became a short favorite. It turned out to be the right call, as the Lions looked fantastic before and after the contest changed when Utes starting passer Cameron Rising went out with lower-body injury. Once he left the matchup, Penn State built a sizable lead and kept it for the remainder of the game.

“I’m just proud of these guys,” Lions coach James 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.

“Just really proud of our guys. Offense, defense and special teams really played a really good, complete game. I thought Kalen King’s interception really got us going and got us started. And then we were able to get pressure on their quarterback, which we weren’t able to do early in the game and that started changing some things for us. Obviously the big run by Nick Singleton, Barney Amor punted well all night long, because it was a position game, playing Coach Whittingham, is a defensive head coach. And you talk about drive-start battle, they were really winning that”

Here’s what is being said about the win locally and nationally.

Penn State wins final traditional Rose Bowl

This is the angle CBS Sports national college football reporter Dennis Dodd took. The Rose Bowl is a College Football Playoff semifinals location next year. Then, when the CFP expands to 12 teams in 2024, the Pasadena, Calif., game will be part of that structure and no longer feature just Big Ten versus PAC-12 matchups.

“The finality of it, though, was palpable: This definitely wasn’t your granddaddy’s Granddaddy. 

Since the Rose Bowl reluctantly joined the BCS in 1998, it has been an uneasy relationship between tradition and evolution. Above everything, Rose Bowl traditionalists valued that Pac-8/10/12 vs Big Ten game. For 54 consecutive years (1947-2000), the conferences’ champions met here.

Then that BCS intervened. To participate in it, the Rose Bowl, Big Ten and Pac-12 agreed to give up their exclusivity to be part of the first college football championship decided on the field. The Rose’s first shot in the BCS rotation came in 2002. Miami met Nebraska for the national championship. Folks from both schools came back from Pasadena talking about how the welcome had been less than cordial.”

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Just how good are the 11-2 Nittany Lions?

This is a question that might be debated by some. Penn State should finish inside the top 10 of the final Associated Press poll. Utah was its signature win. The Lions beat up on some bad opponents and lost their two biggest regular season games. But, eleven victories is a terrific accomplishment, and Cory Giger of DKPittsburghSports believes that postseason performance answered this question definitively.

“You can make a case that, even if the Lions had lost, it wouldn’t have been all that bad,” Giger writes. “Because this would have been a successful season with the Rose Bowl appearance. But winning this game — and routing a good Utah team — means that the Lions have put the rest of the country on notice about how good they really were this season, and how good they could be in the coming years.

“Gone now is the disappointment of the 11-11 record the past two years, because now, there’s so much hope for the future, especially with the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 in two years.”

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Sean Clifford has storybook ending to Lions career

Penn State fans might always have a love/hate relationship with four-year starting quarterback Sean Clifford. But, there is no question that his performance in the Rose Bowl adds an endearing chapter to his Lions legacy. The Cincinnati, Ohio native completed 16 of 22 passes for 279 yards and two touchdowns. It was arguably his best game in blue and white, and he saved the best for last on the biggest stage of his career.

“Capping a career in which he didn’t always complete such throws and occasionally made a crushing mistake, Clifford made all the former and none of the latter in a flawless performance,” David Jones writes for PennLive.

“His 279 yards and 2 TDs passing don’t describe his command, his accuracy and vision throughout. He played like the 24-year-old he is in college football’s most ancient and hallowed venue, showing all the seasoning and none of the callous. All of us should leave a job or a place with such grace and aplomb.”

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Rose Bowl win makes looking ahead exciting for the Lions

We wrap up with this take from BWI publisher Sean Fitz. Penn State fans are excited with the 11-win season. And now, hopes are even higher for 2023.

“Penn State will have some holes to fill coming out of this season, particularly in the leadership realm, but the Nittany Lions have to feel good about where they stand heading into 2023,” Fitz writes. “Internally, James Franklin and his staff have been keeping an eye on the future because they’re aware of what is slated to come back. A Rose Bowl win should do nothing to temper those expectations. 

“The Nittany Lions picked up a transfer commitment from former NC State wideout Devin Carter shortly after the final whistle on Monday and they’ll continue to try to elevate the roster in the offseason. The good news is that a lot of the core components of the 2023 roster have already made an impact on the field. There is star potential in them, as well.”

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