Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1490816
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 3 17 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M By The Numbers 5 Takedowns by true freshman 157-pounder Levi Haines in a 16-6 major decision over Wisconsin's 16th-ranked Garrett Model on Jan. 6 in Madison. It was the first Big Ten dual meet appearance of Haines' career, and it helped break an 8-8 tie in the team scoring and lift the top-ranked Nittany Lions to a 28-11 win over the 11th-ranked Badgers. 7th Penn State's place in both the Associated Press and American Football Coaches Association polls fol- lowing its 35-21 victory over Utah in the Rose Bowl. It was the team's fourth top-10 finish in James Franklin's nine seasons at PSU and was tied for the highest finish of his coaching tenure. The Nittany Lions also were seventh in both polls after the 2016 season in which they won their only Big Ten championship under Franklin but lost to USC in the Rose Bowl. 11 Wins by the Penn State football team during the 2022 season. In its 135- year football history, Penn State has won 11 or more games 19 times. Four of those 11-win seasons have taken place under Franklin's leadership. 13th Makenna Marisa's place on Penn State's list of all- time leading women's bas- ketball scorers after totaling a game-high 24 points in the Lady Lions' 70-60 victory over visiting Purdue on Jan. 7. The senior guard from McMur- ray, Pa., raised her career total to 1,543 points in the win over the Boilermakers, passing Tanya Garner, who scored 1,538 points from 1988-91. Marisa boosted her career scoring total to 1,557 with a 14-point effort against Nebraska on Jan. 11. With 12 more reg- ular-season games remaining, she was closing in on Andrea Garner (1,619 points from 1996- 2000) and Lisa Shepherd (1,663 from 1997-2001). 18 Three-pointers by the Penn State men's bas- ketball team in an 85-66 victory over visiting Indiana on Jan. 11. The Nittany Lions tied the school record for most threes in a game, hitting 18 of their 31 attempts from beyond the arc (58.1 percent). Se- nior forward Seth Lundy and super senior guard Andrew Funk each made 7 of 12 three-point tries to lead the way for PSU, which earned its most lopsided win ever against the Hoosiers. 31 All-time bowl victories for Penn State following its Rose Bowl win over Utah. The Nittany Lions are tied with Oklahoma for fourth place on the list of college football's win- ningest bowl participants. Only Alabama (45), Georgia (36) and USC (34) have more wins than the Nittany Lions and Sooners. With its 31-19-2 record, Penn State has the best winning percentage of any Big Ten team in bowl games at .615. Only five Big Ten teams are above .500 in bowls. In addition to the Lions, those teams are Rutgers (.600), Wisconsin (.559), Iowa (.529) and Purdue (.524). 88 Yardage of senior quarterback SEAN CLIFFORD's touchdown pass to third-year sophomore wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith in the fourth quarter of the Rose Bowl. It was the longest pass play in the game's 109-year history. With its victory over Utah, Penn State became the first team in Rose Bowl history to score both a receiving and a rushing touchdown of more than 80 yards. In the third quarter, fresh- man running back Nicholas Singleton scored on an 87-yard run. It was the third-longest run ever in the Rose Bowl. 1,928 Combined rush- ing yardage by true freshmen Singleton and Kaytron Allen this season, the third-highest total by a running back duo at Penn State since 1960. Singleton finished with 1,061 yards, while Allen added 867. Only two duos at Penn State fared better over the past 63 seasons: Lydell Mitchell and Franco Harris with 2,251 yards in 1971, and Larry Johnson and Mike Gasparato with 2,245 in 2002. 10.2 million Viewers who tuned in to the Rose Bowl on Jan. 2. Viewership for ESPN's broadcast was down 40 percent from last year's matchup between Utah and Ohio State, a decline that was attributed in part to the game's kickoff time on a Monday af- ternoon when many were already back to work after the New Year's holiday. Even though it was the lowest-rated Rose Bowl ever, it was the most-watched bowl game of the 2022 postseason aside from the two College Football Playoff semifinals. Penn State's battle with Utah outdrew the Sugar Bowl, which pitted Alabama against Kansas State on Dec. 31, and the Orange Bowl, which featured Clemson and Tennes- see on Dec. 30. Those games attracted 9.1 and 8.7 million viewers, respectively. PHOTO BY DANIEL ALTHOUSE