The No. 8 Utah Utes and No. 11 Penn State Nittany Lions are set to battle it out on January 2, 2023 in the prestigious Rose Bowl Game. At first glance, the two teams have a lot of similarities. UteNation caught up with Justin Morganstein of Rivals.com’s NittanyNation, to gain in-depth insight into head coach James Franklin’s squad.
Penn State is much more than a third-place Big Ten team. With Michigan and Ohio State being their only two losses, just how good is this team?
Penn State is right about where it should be right now. Aside from a poor all around performance in Ann Arbor, the Nittany Lions have been in a position to win every game this season.
This is a team that led Ohio State in the fourth quarter and has managed to take care of business against its inferior opponeents following a season opening scare at Purdue.
The offense has sputtered at times but overall has been as consistent as ever under Sean Clifford. It also doesn’t hurt to have two star freshman tailbacks in Kaytron Allen and Big Ten Freshman of the Year Nick Singleton.
How would you attack the Penn State’s defense?
Penn State is a program that historically hasn’t been touted for its stellar defensive back play but that has changed in the past few years under Franklin.
Cornerback Joey Porter Jr. has shown a number of traits to warrant him being a first round pick this April, thus opting out of the Rose Bowl and heading to the NFL draft.
That won’t be a small loss for the Nittany Lions as true sophomore Kalen King and rotational corner Johnny Dixon will need to fill the void with Porter Jr. out.
Plus, with Penn State giving up just two 100 yard rushers all season, it was always going to be the passing game that gave Utah the best chance to win in this matchup.
What’s the key to stopping the Nittany Lions’ offense?
While Sean Clffford has reached a solid level of consistency in his final season at Penn State, many who follow the team know that the ceiling is only so high.
Clifford has proved to be a good improviser, tough, and plenty mobile when it comes to moving in and out of the pocket.
His overall arm talent though has always been an area for improvement as standing in the pocket and delivering accurate throws down the field has proved to be a flaw over time.
With his No. 1 receiver Parker Washington opting out for the draft, Clifford will rely heavily on the three tight ends in Brenton Strange, Theo Johnson and Tyler Warren.
Take them away in the short field and the offense can become one-dimensional with Singleton and Allen being the main threats.
Just how good is the combination of Singleton and Allen? What’s the best way to try and stop them?
They have been as advertised since stepping on campus as early enrollees last year.
Heading into the season, it was expected that the veteran, Keyvone Lee, would be the lead back for the Nittany Lions but due to some injury troubles throughout the year and the emergence of the freshmen, Singleton and Allen were immediately thrusted into big roles.
Most of the hype coming into the year was centered around Singleton, who is a Pennsylvania native and took home Gatorade National Player of the Year honors in his senior season of high school.
But Allen, a four-star recruit who attended IMG Academy has looked like the more prolific back at times with his physicality and strong downhill running style acclimating nicely to the Big Ten.
Both have had their fair share of big moments this season and have been really hard to stop as each possess their own skillset, Allen with power and Singleton with speed.
Who are the key Penn State players for Utah fans to pay attention to?
I touched on it earlier but the Penn State tight end production is a big part of why the offense has been successful this season.
The Nittany Lions are 7-0 when a tight end finds the end zone this year which isn’t a surprise considering how crucial the connection between them and Clifford has been in 2022.
Brenton Strange leads Penn State with five receiving touchdowns this season and Theo Johnson is right behind him with four.
Also make sure to keep an eye out for Tyler Warren, the No. 3 tight end who has been used in a variety of packages including on the goal line where he rushed for two touchdowns out of the wildcat in 2021.
When Clifford is finding these three consistently is when the offense can get into a rhythm and become dangerous, so it wouldn’t be shocking for the tight end room to have an early impact in Pasadena.
What’s your game prediction for the Rose Bowl? Why?
This is a really intriguing matchup and a great test to see where both programs are at right now.
There are a lot of similarities between these two teams but ultimately this game could come down to which veteran QB comes through with a big drive late in this game.
But I think Utah has unfinished business from last year and Cam Rising brings back a Rose Bowl win back to Salt Lake City in his final game.
Utes in a close one.
Utah 38 Penn State 34
