Blue White Illustrated

in seven trips to the Valley of the Sun, and despite their clutch performance on offense, it wasn't exactly free of sus- pense. They botched a chance to run out the clock, picking up a penalty on a late fourth-down conversion attempt. Then they blew a chance to clinch the game when they missed the field goal they at- tempted a@er the penalty backed them up 5 yards. But linebacker Brandon Smith picked off a lateral on Washington's des- perate final play, and the Lions held on. "I've been doing this long enough that I know if you turn the ball over, you're going to have a hard time winning," Franklin said. "We were very fortunate to get away with a win with the amount of times we turned the ball over today. That's something we take a lot of pride in. We've been one of the better turnover-ratio teams in the country, and we were just a little sloppy with those things today. But at the end of the day, I think the thing that swung it in our di- rection was the third down on offense. We were fantastic on third down today." Penn State wrapped up its season at 11- 2 overall, its second consecutive 11-win finish. Washington, which was playing in the Fiesta for the first time, fell to 10-3. Here's a look at the good and the bad: THE GOOD • Penn State's offensive playmakers all had big games, notably Trace McSorley (342 passing yards, two touchdowns), Saquon Barkley (137 rushing yards, two TDs) and DaeSean Hamilton (110 receiv- ing yards, two touchdowns). But rather than just highlighting the stars, let's give a shout-out to the players who made it all possible: the offensive linemen. Fac- ing the best run defense in the country, the Lions rushed for 203 yards as a team. Also, they gave McSorley enough time to pick apart a strong Washington second- ary, allowing only one sack. Their 545 total yards were the most in Penn State's bowl history. There was one demerit on their report card, however. The false start penalty on Brendan Mahon on fourth-and-short late in the fourth quarter forced a field goal attempt that was no good, giving Washington one last chance to send the game to overtime. But otherwise, this unit rose to the occasion. "There's outside noise, there are crit- ics," Franklin said. "And Matt [Limegrover] just keeps loving those kids and keeps coaching them and working hard with them. We're still fairly young up front, and they just got better as the season went on." • McSorley was cool under pressure, repeatedly evading Washington's pass rush and making plays downfield. "He makes the whole thing go," Huskies coach Chris Petersen said. "As good as Barkley is, I think it's that quarterback that makes the whole offense go. And he did a terrific job tonight." • Juwan Johnson caught six passes for 66 yards and was one of the key reasons for Penn State's spectacular third-down conversion rate. The Fiesta Bowl contin- ued Johnson's late-season surge and seemingly set the stage for a big junior year in 2018. • Except for a handful of big plays, no- tably Myles Gaskin's 69-yard score on a direct snap in the fourth quarter and a 52-yard option pass by receiver Andre Baccellia to tight end Will Dissly, Penn State kept the Huskies under wraps. Jake Browning finished 18 of 28 for 175 yards and was sacked four times, although it should be noted that his leading receiver, Dante Pettis, played a limited role due to an apparent injury. • It was good to see Penn State giving the ball to Sanders late in the game as it tried to run out the clock. The sopho- more running back caught some flak for ball-security issues earlier in his career, but the coaches' willingness to call his number late in the game with every Washington defender pawing at the ball was a show of faith. THE BAD • Penn State had the Huskies on the ropes, leading 28-7. Then a botched pitch SCORING SUMMARY 1ST 11:10 PSU Hamilton, DaeSean 48-yard pass from McSorley, Trace (Davis, Tyler kick) 8 plays, 83 yards, TOP 3:50....................................................... 0-7 1:34 PSU Barkley, Saquon 2-yard run (Davis, Tyler kick) 11 plays, 64 yards, TOP 5:12....................................................... 0-14 2ND 14:57 UW Browning, Jake 1 yd run (Vizcaino, T. kick) 4 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:37..........................................................7-14 11:59 PSU Sanders, Miles 1-yard run (Davis, Tyler kick) 7 plays, 76 yards, TOP 2:53.........................................................7-21 9:01 PSU Barkley, Saquon 92-yard run (Davis, Tyler kick) 2 plays, 93 yards, TOP 0:44...................................................... 7-28 4:15 UW Gaskin, Myles 13-yard run (Vizcaino, T. kick) 6 plays, 33 yards, TOP 2:26.....................................................14-28 3RD 9:57 UW Fuller, Aaron 28-yard pass from Browning, Jake (Vizcaino, T. kick) 13 plays, 80 yards, TOP 4:59...................................................21-28 5:59 PSU Hamilton, DaeSean 24-yard pass from McSorley, Trace (Davis, Tyler kick) 8 plays, 70 yards, TOP 3:58.....................................................21-35 4TH 6:52 UW Gaskin, Myles 69-yard run (Vizcaino, T. kick) 3 plays, 78 yards, TOP 1:14......................................................28-35 D E c E M B E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 7 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 2

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