Blue White Illustrated

A T T H E 2 0 1 7 N I T T A N Y L I O N S None of it – not the big plays, not the amazing atmosphere, not even his star pupil Chris Godwin's record-setting per- formance – was enough to alleviate the sting of defeat. "There are no moral victories," Gattis said. "You win or you lose. We are never satisfied with losing, but we're proud of this team and of this program, proud of these kids. We're just hurting right now. USC did great. They fought hard all game. … What you saw was two good programs battle, and that's how football should be played." The television ratings reinforced the coaches' and players' postgame state- ments. According to ESPN, the Rose Bowl had the best overnight ratings and more streaming views of any nonsemifinal New Year's Six game in the three-year history of the current postseason format. During the final two minutes, after hoards of fans in the stadium had already left for the exits, the rating jumped to 12.4 nationally. The Philadelphia market set a local record. In total, the overnight ratings were up 19 percent from last year's contest between Stanford and Iowa. While an estimated 16 million viewers watched from home, junior offensive tackle Andrew Nelson had one of the best views in the house. He would have rather been entrenched in the action, but a leg injury sidelined him for the majority of the 2016 season. On game night, he watched closely from the sideline. He, too, was disheartened by Penn State's loss. Observing from afar, however, he was able to appreciate the grandiosity of the moment. "I think everyone in the stands or who watched on TV would all agree that was probably one of the best Rose Bowl games ever played," Nelson said. "It was amaz- ing. Hats off to USC. They played a great game, but I think our team really can walk out of here with their heads held high. I'm really proud of these guys. I think it just shows we had heart. We fought the whole game. There are ups and downs to every game, but we fought through it all. Again, hats off to both teams. It was a hell of a game." ■ QUARTERBACK Trace McSorley didn't get off to the kind of start that he was hoping for, but in typical McSorley fashion, he led the Nittany Lions to seven consecutive touchdowns in the second and third quarters. The redshirt sopho- more quarterback finished the day with 254 yards passing and four touchdowns, but two of his three interceptions led to points, none more damaging than the one at the end of the game that set up Matt Boermeester's decisive field goal for Southern Cal. McSorley will learn from his mistakes, but this one is going to sting for a while.......................................................................... GRADE B RUNNING BACK Right from the start, it was clear that Saquon Barkley was going to have some success against the Trojans. But I don't think many expected to see him finish with 249 yards of total offense and three touchdowns. Penn State fans have a lot to look forward to next season........................... GRADE A RECEIVER If Chris Godwin didn't do enough this season to impress NFL scouts, he certainly took advantage of the Rose Bowl's stage, torching Southern Cal's secondary with nine receptions for 187 yards. He also scored two of the more impressive touchdowns we've seen all season. The rest of the unit didn't get much going, so that knocks them down a grade, but man, what a night for Godwin..................................................................................... GRADE B OFFENSIVE LINE Southern Cal brought a ton of pressure, especially in the first half. But once the Nittany Lions' offensive line started to gain some confi- dence and began making the right reads, the offense was able to have success through the air and on the ground. McSorley was sacked only once the entire game.........................................................................................GRADE A DEFENSIVE LINE Penn State had only one tackle for loss against the Trojans, and that was by free safety Malik Golden. However, that statistic doesn't tell the full story. The Nittany Lions did manage to put some pressure on quarterback Sam Darnold early in the game, but they shifted their focus to spying him once he showed how athletic he really is. Give credit where credit is due: Darnold is a heck of a player. He's a lot like another quarterback whom we watched all sea- son........................................................................................... GRADE C LINEBACKER Manny Bowen's athleticism was missed, and things didn't get much easier when Brandon Bell left in the third quarter. Penn State's linebackers have struggled in pass coverage all year, and the Rose Bowl was no different, but they also made a few important plays that will be overlooked given the result. USC has some excellent athletes. I can't think of too many units that would have performed better.......................................................................... GRADE C DEFENSIVE BACK That was tough to watch. Going into the game, most ex- pected USC to have some success, but they didn't expect 453 yards passing and five touchdowns. To make matters worse, when the game was on the line, Penn State had no answers. Again, USC is a heck of a team. The Trojans have some of the best athletes that PSU has seen this season, but the secondary has to per- form better................................................................................ GRADE D SPECIAL TEAMS Miles Sanders showed some serious jitters to start off the game, muffing the opening kick. Blake Gillikin also started out slow, but give the freshman some credit, as he averaged 50.8 yards per punt, knocking one inside the 20....................................................................................... GRADE B COACHING There are a lot of ways to look at the game plan, but the thing that most fans won't forget anytime soon is the fact that Penn State became very conservative late in the game. At the same time, it's on the players to perform in those situations.......................................................................... GRADE C G A M E G R A D E S B Y R Y A N S N Y D E R

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