Blue White Illustrated

January 2018

Penn State Sports Magazine

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P O S T S E A S O N P R E V I E W >> P E N N S T A T E TALE OF THE TAPE WASHINGTON PENN STATE RECORD 10-2 (7-2 Pac-12) 10-2 (7-2 Big Ten) RANKING 12th AP, 12th coaches, 11th CFP 9th AP, 9th coaches, 9th CFP HEAD COACH Chris Petersen (University of California, Davis, '88) James Franklin (East Stroudsburg, '95) COACH'S RECORD 37-16 in four seasons (Overall record: 129-28) 35-17 in four seasons (Overall record: 59-32) COACH'S BOWL RECORD 6-4 3-3 SCHOOL'S BOWL RECORD 18-18-1 28-17-2 FIESTA BOWL RECORD 0-0 6-0 MOST RECENT BOWL Lost to Alabama, 24-7, in the 2016 Peach Bowl Lost to USC, 52-49, in the 2017 Rose Bowl BASIC OFFENSE Multiple (36.9 ppg, 411.7 ypg) Spread (41.6 ppg, 453.2 ypg) RUSHING LEADER Myles Gaskin (208 att, 1,282 yds, 19 TDs, 6.2 ypc) Saquon Barkley (199 att, 1,134 yds, 16 TDs, 5.7 ypc) PASSING LEADER Jake Browning (2,544 yds, 18 TDs, 5 int, 68.8 pct) Trace McSorley (3,228 yds, 26 TDs, 8 int, 65.3 pct) RECEIVING LEADER Dante Pettis (62 rec, 721 yds, 7 TDs) Mike Gesicki (51 rec, 501 yds, 9 TDs) BASIC DEFENSE 3-4 (14.5 ppg, 277.4 ypg) 4-3 (15.5 ppg, 329.3 ypg) TACKLE LEADER Ben Burr-Kirven (32 asst, 47 solo, 79 total) Jason Cabinda (53 asst, 31 solo, 84 total) SACK LEADER Ryan Bowman (5.5, 40 yds) Shareef Miller (4, 25 yds), Shaka Toney (4, 31 yds) INTERCEPTION LEADER Tevis Bartlett, Jordan Miller, Byron Murphy (2) Amani Oruwariye (4, 17 yds) head coach, and his Washington teams have reflected his expertise, scoring points in bunches thanks to an influx of talented playmakers such as quarterback Jake Browning, wideout Dante Pettis and tailback Myles Gaskin. As a sophomore last year, Browning threw for 3,430 yards and 43 touchdowns in leading the Huskies to the CFP semifinals against Alabama. His numbers have declined this season, due in part to a wave of injuries that has thinned out the receiver corps. But he's still hitting 68.8 percent of his passes and has thrown a league-low five intercep- tions, as Washington leads the Pac-12 with a 154.9 pass-efficiency rating. And as effective as they've been on of- fense, the Huskies may be even better on defense. Bolstered by Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Vita Vea, a 6-foot-5, 340-pound tackle from Milpitas, Calif., who has been described as a "game- wrecker," Washington is leading the Foot- ball Bowl Subdivision in rushing defense at 92.3 yards per game. That defensive prowess was on full dis- play in the Huskies' regular-season finale against Washington State. Vea had seven quarterback pressures, as Washington held the 14th-ranked Cougars scoreless until midway through the fourth quarter in a 41-14 romp. Washington State could have claimed a spot in the conference championship game with a victory, but instead it rushed for negative yardage and wasn't able to rely on its vaunted passing attack to produce touchdowns. The Nittany Lions have struggled at times to run the ball, gaining only 56 rushing yards against Indiana and 35 against Rutgers. So while the Fiesta Bowl will almost certainly be Saquon Barkley's blue-and-white finale, it figures to be an- other one of those games in which Trace McSorley will be called upon to keep the offense moving through the air. Of course, that could be a problem, too, as Washington is second in the Pac-12 against the pass at 185.1 yards per game. "It's going to be a challenge," Penn State coach James Franklin said. "They're big, they're strong, they're physical, they're fast. And they take a lot of pride in how they play defense there. ... They've got it rolling on the defensive side of the ball, and obviously they're doing a great job on offense, as well. "So it's going to be a challenge, but I know our guys will be excited about it. Hopefully we'll get some guys back and be as healthy as possible for the game, be- cause late in the year we were all banged up. So we'd love for Washington to be as healthy as they possibly can be and for Penn State to be as healthy as we possibly can be and go out there and put on a show and have a lot of fun." The Nittany Lions recently bid farewell to offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead, as

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