GAME BREAKER Blacknall
crosses the goal line on a 70-
yard pass to open the second
half of the Big Ten Champi-
onship Game. His touchdown
pulled the Lions within seven
points of Wisconsin and
helped set in motion one of
the great comebacks in
school history.
Photo by
Steve Manuel
V S . S O U T H E R N C A L I F O R N I A
THE GAME
AT A
GLANCE
WHERE
Rose Bowl Stadium (capacity: 92,542),
Pasadena,
Calif.
WHEN 5 p.m. ET, Jan. 2
TV ESPN will carry the game live, with Chris Fowler
handling play-by-play and Kirk Herbstreit providing
analysis. Samantha Ponder will be the sideline reporter.
RADIO Steve Jones and Jack Ham will call the game for
the Penn State Sports Network. ESPN Radio will also
carry the game, with Dave Pasch, Greg McElroy and
Tom Luginbill behind the mic.
SERIES HISTORY USC leads the all-time series
against Penn State, 5-4.
MOST RECENT MEETING Daryll Clark set a Penn
State bowl record with 273 passing yards, but it wasn't
enough to offset three turnovers and a season-high
nine penalties, as the Lions lost to USC, 38-24, on Jan. 1,
2009. Trojans quarterback Mark Sanchez completed
28 of 35 passes for 413 yards and four touchdowns.
DID YOU KNOW Penn State is 13-3-1 in bowl games
played west of the Mississippi River. Two of those
losses have been to Southern California in the Rose
Bowl: a 14-3 defeat in 1923 and the 38-24 loss in
2009. The other loss was to Houston, 30-14,
in the 2011 TicketCity Bowl. The last time
the Lions won a postseason game
played west of the Missis-
sippi was in 2007,
when it defeated
Texas A&M, 24-
17, in the
Alamo Bowl.
