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Penn State gets Rose Bowl victory: BWI Live Postgame show

Headshot 5x7 reduced qualityby: Thomas Frank Carr01/03/23ThomasFrankCarr
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PASADENA, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 02: Sean Clifford #14 of the Penn State Nittany Lions celebrates a touchdown scored by Nicholas Singleton #10 against the Utah Utes during the third quarter in the 2023 Rose Bowl Game at Rose Bowl Stadium on January 02, 2023 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Penn State and Utah played a closely-contested game on Monday night in the 2023 Rose Bowl. If the Nittany Lions proved one thing, it’s that they have a dominant running game.

Freshman Nicholas Singleton broke off an 87-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to give the Nittany Lions a 21-14 lead. Singleton had only six carries by the time the decisive fourth quarter started, but he gained 120 yards on those six runs and scored two touchdowns. The budding superstar showed speed, power, and vision during the game in a breakout performance reminiscent of former Nittany Lions rusher Saquon Barkley.

However, the turning point of the game was the next drive when Utah quarterback Cam Rising exited the game with a knee injury after a first-down scramble where he took a hard hit from three Penn State defenders.

Penn State, Clifford get signature win

The game broke open on the first play of the fourth quarter when KeAndre Lambert-Smith broke off an 88-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Sean Clifford.

Clifford, in his swan song, was impeccable. The sixth-year senior exploded during the game for 279 yards and two touchdowns by the time Lambert-Smith hauled in his touchdown. More impressively, Clifford was hyper-efficient, completing 16 of 22 passes with several throwaways thanks to excellent coverage.

Once Penn State went up by two scores, Utah had no answer without Rising. Backup quarterback Bryson Barnes threw a bad interception in the third quarter and took several sacks that ended drives. The Nittany Lions defense came up big in the second half as well. Despite struggling to contain Rising as a runner, they shut down the Utes passing attack with Rising only throwing for 95 yards before leaving the game. The defense also corralled five sacks and two interceptions.

Penn State wins its first Rose Bowl since 1994, and head coach James Franklin gets redemption in his second attempt after a loss to USC in 2016. The Nittany Lions finish the season 11-2, and fans that wanted one got a signature win for 2022.

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