Blue White Illustrated

Southern Cal Pregame

Penn State Sports Magazine

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P R E G A M E R E P O R T P E N N S T A T E v s . S O U T H E R N C A L 5 : 1 0 P . M . , J A N . 2 E S P N SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FACTS COACH Clay Helton (Houston, '94) COACH'S RECORD 15-7 in two seasons; career record: same 2016 RECORD 9-3 (7-2 Pac-12) RECORD VS. PSU Southern Cali- fornia leads the all-time series, 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. Tro- jans quarterback Mark Sanchez completed 28 of 35 passes for 413 yards and four touchdowns. GOOD NEWS The Rose Bowl may not be a home game for USC, but it might as well be. The Trojans have made more appearances in the game (33) than any other team and have more wins (24). They've won their past three Rose Bowls, beating Michigan in 2007, Illinois in 2008 and Penn State in 2009. BAD NEWS USC is averaging 32.9 points per game to rank sixth in the Pac-12, but in five games against teams ranked in the current AP Top 25, it averaged 18 points. DID YOU KNOW? Penn State is 13-3-1 in bowl games played west of the Missis- sippi River. Two of those losses have been to USC 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. M A T T   H E R B | M A T T @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M He had arrived at the Lasch Building well before dawn, and when he turned on the lights, James Franklin was gratified by what he saw arrayed before him at the reception desk: off to one side, the Big Ten East Division champi- onship trophy. Off to the opposite side, the Big Ten Championship Game trophy. In the middle, a bouquet of flowers, courtesy of the Rose Bowl. "That put a smile on my face, to be honest with you," Franklin said. No wonder. His Nittany Lions had proven the skeptics wrong, racking up 11 wins, including eight in a row to end the regular season and another one in the Big Ten title game. In doing so, they earned Penn State's first Rose Bowl in- vitation since 2008. But the reverie was brief. Before the roses had even begun to wilt, the Nit- tany Lions had moved on to their next challenge. The biggest part of that challenge is, of course, 1 L.A. STORY After turnaround seasons, Rose Bowl foes seek happy ending Darnold took over the Trojans' starting quarterback job in the fourth week of the season and played a key role in turning their season around. He was re- cently named the Pac-12 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year. Photo by Percy Anderson D E C E M B E R   3 0 ,   2 0 1 6 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M

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