Big-play Penn State roars past Utah 35-21 in Rose Bowl

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Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports
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PASADENA, Calif. — KeAndre Lambert-Smith had the longest touchdown reception in Rose Bowl history on an 88-yard pass from Sean Clifford, freshman Nicholas Singleton broke a tiebreaking 87-yard touchdown run, and No. 9 Penn State rallied past No. 7 Utah 35-21 in the 109th edition of the Granddaddy of Them All.

Clifford passed for 279 yards and two touchdowns in an impressive farewell to Penn State, and Singleton rushed for 120 yards and two more scores on a rainy day filled with spectacular big plays by the Nittany Lions (11-2).

Utah couldn’t rally with quarterback Cameron Rising sidelined by a second-half injury, and coach James Franklin’s exuberant group comfortably won the Rose Bowl for the second time in school history and the first since Jan. 2, 1995.

Singleton got the Nittany Lions rolling in a well-played game when he broke through Utah’s defensive front and outran the secondary for his second touchdown early in the third quarter. The 87-yard romp was the third-longest TD run in Rose Bowl history and the second-longest in Penn State’s bowl history.

Shortly after rain began to fall on the Rose Bowl Game for the first time since 1997, Lambert-Smith got open deep and eluded Utah’s defensive backs on the first snap of the fourth quarter for the longest pass completion in Penn State’s bowl history. Clifford’s pass also broke the Rose Bowl record of 76 yards by Michigan’s Rick Leach to Curt Stephenson in 1978 against Washington.

Freshman Kaytron Allen added a 1-yard TD run with 10:36 to play, and Penn State’s defense got stops on the Utes’ first six drives of the second half.

The victory was a fitting finale for Clifford, the sixth-year senior who finally added a memorable bowl performance to his slew of Penn State career passing records in his 51st game. Clifford also became the winningest quarterback in school history with his 32nd victory, passing Trace McSorley.

Franklin called a timeout with 2:30 left to allow a hero’s farewell for Clifford, who waved at the standing ovation from Penn State’s white-clad fans while his teammates applauded.

“I’m just so thankful for this place,” Clifford said. “I can’t put it into words. It’s so amazing. I just love Penn State so much.”

Rising passed for 95 yards before apparently injuring his left knee in the third quarter, forcing the Utah quarterback out of his second straight Rose Bowl early due to injury. Bryson Barnes replaced Rising for the second straight year, but the two-time Pac-12 champion Utes (10-4) couldn’t rally behind their backup.

Ja'Quinden Jackson rushed for 81 yards and a touchdown for Utah. Thomas Yassmin caught an early TD pass from Rising, but Utah was shut out for 32 straight minutes before Jaylen Dixon‘s TD catch with 25 seconds to play.

Rising, one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in Utah history, got hurt while being tackled after scrambling for a first down near midfield, eventually trudging to the locker room and returning later in street clothes. The Ventura County native also got hurt on a sack in the fourth quarter of last year’s 48-45 Rose Bowl loss to Ohio State.

Barnes threw his first collegiate passes against the Buckeyes after Rising’s injury and led an improbable tying touchdown drive before Ohio State won it at the gun. Barnes couldn’t recapture that magic in his second Rose Bowl relief role, going 10 of 19 for 112 yards with an interception.

The unusually gloomy afternoon in Arroyo Seco marked the end of an era for the sport’s oldest active bowl: It was the final edition of the Rose Bowl guaranteed to feature its traditional matchup between Pac-12 and Big Ten teams.

The game will be a College Football Playoff semifinal next year, and the subsequent playoff expansion means the Rose Bowl won’t usually control which teams make the trip.

In contrast to several wild Rose Bowls in recent years, including the Utes’ 93-point epic with Ohio State a year ago, both teams traded touchdowns early in drives with several old-school aspects with deliberate use of the run game and solid defense. Singleton even scored the game’s first touchdown on a run out of a T formation.

Yassmin scored Utah’s first TD while filling in for tight end Dalton Kincaid, the Utes’ leading receiver. Kincaid sat out to preserve his health along with Utah’s leading rusher, Tavion Thomas, and first-team All-American cornerback Clark Phillips III.

Penn State answered with Clifford’s 10-yard TD pass to Mitchell Tinsley, but Utah evened it less than two minutes later on a 19-yard TD run by Jackson, making it 14-14 at halftime.

Singleton then made his 87-yard sprint early in the third quarter, surpassing 1,000 yards in his impressive freshman season along the way. Only Saquon Barkley‘s 92-yard run in the 2017 Fiesta Bowl was longer in the Nittany Lions’ lengthy bowl history.

RARE RAINFALL

The game began under cloudy skies after a week of uncharacteristically gray skies in Los Angeles, and in the third quarter, rain landed on the Rose Bowl Game for only the third time since 1955. The visiting fans from two hardy cities showed little concern about Southern California’s version of bad weather.

UP NEXT

Penn State: Hosts West Virginia on Sept. 2.

Utah: Begins its quest for a third straight Pac-12 title by hosting Florida on Sept. 2.

No. 11 Penn State beats Rutgers for the 16th straight time

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PISCATAWAY, N.J. – James Franklin picked up his 100th career coaching victory by seeing No. 11 Penn State make big plays in every phase of the game.

Sean Clifford ran for a touchdown and threw for another and the Nittany Lions scored twice on fumble returns and once on a kickoff return in beating Rutgers 55-10 Saturday.

Freshman Nick Singleton scored on a 100-yard kickoff return, Kobe King gave Penn State (9-2, 6-2 Big Ten) the lead for good with a 14-yard fumble return and Ji'Ayir Brown rumbled 70 yards with another fumble as the Nittany Lions blew it open in the second half.

“We’re playing really good complementary football,” Franklin said. “We scored three non-offensive touchdowns, which is special. We’re playing really good on defense.”

Clifford (17 of 26 for 157 yards) threw a 10-yard TD pass to Tyler Warren and scored on a 14-yard run as the Nittany Lions beat Rutgers (4-7, 1-7) for the 16th straight time.

Penn State led 28-10 at the half and the game was all but over after Curtis Jacobs sacked freshman quarterback Gavin Wimsatt on the fourth play of the second half and Brown picked up the fumble and had a clear path to the end zone.

“I thought we were dominant,” said Jacobs, who felt the scoop and score turned the momentum. “We had a little mishap early, but we were able to get back to where we were supposed to be.”

The last time Penn State scored on offense, defense and special teams in a game was in 2017 against Indiana.

Freshman Kaytron Allen rushed for 117 yards and scored on an 8-yard run as Penn State won its third straight. The Nittany Lions defense limited Rutgers to 167 yards and forced three turnovers that led to 21 points.

Freshman quarterback Gavin Wimsatt (10-of-29 for 122) threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Shameen Jones in the first quarter to give Rutgers its last last at 10-7. The Scarlet Knights have lost 37 straight games to ranked opponents, a run that dates to 2009. The 55 points were the most it has allowed this season.

Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said his team’s margin of error is very slim. He felt the biggest play might have happened in the second quarter with his team trailing 14-10. Penn State punt Barney Amor mishandled a snap and was tackled near his own 20-yard line.

An offside penalty allowed Penn State to keep possession.

“We’re not quite good enough yet to overcome that,” Schiano said, noting later he sincerely believes that Scarlet Knights are getting better as a program and will challenge for a league title down the road.

DYNAMIC DUO

Singleton and Allen are the first two freshmen in conference history to run for at least 700 yards for the same team.

“It just shows that we’re doing something right as (an offensive line) unit,” lineman Sam Wormley said. “That our running backs are able to trust us and hit the holes and believe in our blocks and we’re going to make that block. It just shows that as a unit, we’re all coming together.”

NOTES: … Singleton’s return was the first for Penn State since Lamont Wade had a 100-yarder against Michigan State in 2020. … It was the second kickoff returned for a TD against Rutgers this season. Jaylin Lucas of Indiana opened a game here with a 93-yarder earlier this month. King’s TD was the Nittany Lions’ first fumble return for a TD since Torrence Brown had a 9-yard return in 2016. … Rutgers punter Adam Korsak punted 12 times and now has an NCAA record 339 attempts, breaking the old mark of 337 set by Alexander Kinal of Wake Forest (2012-15). His 14,876 yards punting is also a record, betting old mark of 14,546 by Derek Admas of Kent State-Northwestern (2016-2021).

THE TAKEAWAY

Penn State: The Nittany Lions are still in the running for a major bowl berth. If No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Michigan get berths in the college football playoffs, if might be the Rose Bowl. The two undefeated team meet next Saturday in Columbus, Ohio.

Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights have lost four straight and their hopes for a second-straight postseason game are over.

UP NEXT:

Penn State: plays host to Michigan State.

Rutgers: at Maryland.

No. 14 Penn State defense shines in 30-0 rout of Maryland

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STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Nick Singleton scored two touchdowns and ran for 113 of his 122 yards in the first half and the defense of No. 14 Penn State smothered Maryland in a 30-0 win on Saturday.

Tight end Brenton Strange caught a touchdown pass and Jake Pinegar kicked three field goals for the Nittany Lions (8-2, 5-2 Big Ten, No. 14 CFP), who beat Maryland for the seventh time in nine games since the Terps (6-4, 3-4) joined the Big Ten in 2014.

Like the overall series, this one was all Nittany Lions thanks to Penn State’s pass rush.

Soggy conditions couldn’t slow Penn State’s front seven. Neither could Maryland’s reeling offensive line.

Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa was hit hard as he threw incomplete on the Terps’ first play from scrimmage – an omen of things to come from a Nittany Lion defense that notched seven sacks, seven QB hurries, forced nine punts and three turnovers on down.

The Nittany Lions did most of their damage early. They sacked Tagovailoa five times and held Maryland to just 27 total yards before halftime.

By that point, Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford had put the game out of reach when he threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Strange just 6:08 in. Meanwhile, Singleton lapped Maryland’s defense on a pair of fourth-and-inches runs that went for 45- and 27-yard touchdowns. Pinegar added field goals from 50 and 46 yards to put Penn State up 27-0 at halftime.

Pinegar added a 21-yarder midway through the third.

Tagovailoa finished 11 for 22 for 74 yards. Roman Hemby led the Terps with 68 rushing yards on 13 carries.

THE TAKEAWAY

Maryland: It looks as if it could be another long November for the Terps. They’re just 2-9 in the month all-time under coach Mike Locksley and were beaten all over the field on Saturday. Their inability to run the ball and protect Tagovailoa doomed them from the start.

Penn State: Although the Nittany Lions don’t have a shot at a Big Ten championship, the future looks bright. The team’s most impactful players down the stretch are freshmen. Linebacker Abdul Carter had a team-best seven tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. Singleton and fellow back Kaytron Allen appear to be Penn State’s best running back tandem since Saquon Barkley and Miles Sanders.

UP NEXT

Maryland: Hosts No. 2 Ohio State (10-0, 7-0 Big Ten) on Saturday.

Penn State: Visits Rutgers (4-6, 1-6 Big Ten) on Saturday.