Blue White Illustrated

Washington 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 . W A S H I N G T O N T I M E 4 P . M . , D E C . 3 0 | T V E S P N WASHINGTON FACTS COACH Chris Petersen (Univer- sity of California, Davis, '88) COACH'S RECORD 37-16, 23-13 Pac-12, in four seasons at Wash- ington; career record: 129-28 2017 RECORD 10-2, 7-2 Pac-12 RECORD VS. PSU Penn State leads the series, 2-0. MOST RECENT MEETING The Nittany Lions tied an NCAA record with their fifth consecutive bowl victory, defeating the Huskies, 13- 10, in the Aloha Bowl in Honolulu on Dec. 26, 1983. Punter George Reynolds was named Defensive Player of the Game after averag- ing 47.7 yards on seven attempts. GOOD NEWS Washington's defense ranks as one of the nation's best. The Huskies haven't allowed an oppo- nent to surpass 30 points since the 2015 Heart of Dallas Bowl, in which they defeated Southern Miss, 44-31. The streak encom- passes 26 games. BAD NEWS Washington is in the top half of the Pac-12 in most statistical cat- egories, but not all. The Huskies' one glaring weakness has been their place-kicking. They are at the bottom of the conference in field goal percentage (.591) and have also missed a league-high three PAT attempts. DID YOU KNOW? Among Football Bowl Subdivi- sion coaches with at least five years of experience, Petersen has the second-best career winning percentage with an .822 mark in 12 seasons. The only name ahead of his? Ohio State's Urban Meyer, who has won at an .850 clip in his 16 seasons as a head coach. 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 Penn State has a history of shutting down – or at least slowing down – highly touted opposing players in the Fiesta Bowl. On New Year's Day in 1982, the Nittany Lions faced Southern Cal's Heisman Trophy-winning tailback Marcus Allen, only the second player in NCAA history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season, and held him to 85 yards on 30 carries in a 26-10 victory. And five years later, with the national championship on the line, they intercepted Miami's Heisman-winning quarterback Vinny Testaverde five times in a 14- 10 win. Can they do it again? As they prepare for their seventh appearance in the Fi- esta Bowl, this time against No. 12 Washington, that's one of the biggest ques- tions facing the ninth-ranked Lions. The Huskies may not have a Heisman Trophy winner on their roster, but Pettis is a threat both on offense and special teams for the Huskies. The senior wide receiver has scored nine punt-return touchdowns in his career, an NCAA record. Photo by Alika Jenner 1 D E C E M B E R   2 7 ,   2 0 1 7 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M

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