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J A N U A R Y 3 , 2 0 1 7 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 3 tremendous belief in himself. We did not start the game the way we would have liked to, there's no doubt about that. But Coach [Joe] Moorhead and myself, and really the rest of the team, have tremen- dous belief and faith in him, and we know he's going to battle and make plays for us." THE BAD • The Penn State defense simply could not get a stop for much of the game. Southern Cal scored on five of its seven first-half possessions, and it got close enough to the end zone on its two non- scoring drives to at least attempt field goals. USC quarterback Sam Darnold did a great job of eluding Penn State's pass rush and slinging accurate passes all over the field to a stable of big, athletic wide- outs. Darnold finished with 33 comple- tions in 53 attempts for 453 yards, with five touchdowns and one interception. USC's offensive line, one of the best in the country at protecting the passer, give up only one sack against a Penn State de- fense that ranked second in the Big Ten with 39 sacks going into the game. "You've got to give their O-line credit. We have really had a lot of success this year getting pressure on people's quar- terbacks and getting sacks," Franklin said. "We had a hard time getting to them, and with their skill on the perime- ter and with the talent that they have at the quarterback position, that's going to cause you problems and challenges." • Brandon Bell's Penn State career ended prematurely, albeit on a spectac- ular play. The senior linebacker grabbed a tipped ball in the third quarter and re- turned it 24 yards to set up a 3-yard touchdown run by McSorley. But Bell ap- peared to suffer an arm injury on the re- turn, and a@er leaving for the locker room, he came back out in street clothes. • Penn State got off to a slow start, which wasn't unusual. But the Lions also finished sluggishly on offense, and that was uncharacteristic. Trying at first to protect a lead, then to break a 49-49 tie, they managed only 14 yards and one first down on their four fourth-quarter drives, leaving USC just enough time to put together its comeback. "We didn't do enough," Franklin said. "We needed to score one more time, we needed to get one more stop, and we weren't able to do it." THE TAKEAWAY The sting from this loss will no doubt linger for a while, but it doesn't blot out the positive developments for the Nit- tany Lions this season. They returned to the Top 25, claimed the Big Ten champi- onship and won nine games in a row. Along the way, they showed that Moor- head's offense can produce points against just about anyone, and that de- fensive coordinator Brent Pry can impro- vise with the best of them. And they wrapped it all up by playing in one of the most entertaining Rose Bowls ever, a performance that should do nothing to diminish their appeal to future recruits. "I'm really, really proud of our guys in

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