Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/617289
CITY LIGHTS The Nittany Lions will be making their fifth postseason visit to Jacksonville, having gone 1-2-1 in their four Gator Bowl appearances. Their most recent visit was in 1976, when they lost to Notre Dame, 20-9. THE GAME AT A GLANCE WHERE EverBank Field (capacity: 77,000), Jacksonville, Fla. WHEN Noon, Jan. 2 TV ESPN will carry the game live, with Allen Bestwick handling play-by-play and Dan Hawkins providing analysis. RADIO Steve Jones and Jack Ham will call the game for the Penn State Sports Network. ESPN Radio will also carry the game, with Eamon McAnaney and John Congemi in the booth. SERIES HISTORY Penn State leads the all- time series against Georgia, 1-0. MOST RECENT MEETING The game against coach Vince Dooley's Bulldogs was one of the most memorable in Penn State history, as the Lions prevailed, 27-23, in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, 1983, to claim their first national championship. BOWL HISTORY It's known as the Tax-Slay- er Bowl now, but for most of its existence, it was the Gator Bowl Classic. One of the first games of its kind, the bowl was launched on Jan. 1, 1946, when a group of local business- men put up $10,000 of their own money to lure Wake Forest and South Carolina to Jack- sonville's Fairfield Stadium. Won by Wake Forest, 24-16, the game attracted only 7,362 spectators, and the organizers lost money. But they agreed to try again, and the Gator Bowl gradually gained in pop- ularity, eventually drawing crowds of 60,000 to 70,000 during the 1970s. More than 84,000 at- tended the 2010 matchup of Florida State and West Virginia, the final game for long- time Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden. SAQUON BARKLEY Steve Manuel