The day of the 2023 Rose Bowl Game is here. No. 8 Utah faces off against No. 11 Penn State. The game kicks off at 3 PM MST on ESPN. The Utes are looking to take care of unfinished business after losing late in a Rose Bowl Game classic to Ohio State last year. The Penn State Nittany Lions are making their first trip back since 2017.

Rivals team sites NittanyNation and UteNation have gotten together to collaborate on game day content for the Granddaddy of Them All.

Here, Justin Morganstein and Alex Markham discuss how Penn State wins this game…

Alex Markham, UteNation —

Penn State wins if they can make Utah one-dimensional. If they stop the run, it forces Utah to pass and the Utes are missing their top two targets they came into the season with: Brant Kuithe and Dalton Kincaid. To quarterback Cam Rising’s credit, he lit up the scoreboard against USC with a limited Kincaid and host of different targets he had to turn to. That was USC though, and this Penn State defense should be a much more difficult opponent.

With Kincaid out, Utah only has two players with 30+ targets playing in the game—running back Micah Bernard with 31 and receiver Devaughn Vele with 50.

Justin Morganstein, NittyNation —

Penn State wins if it can use the ground game to open up the rest of the offense. The running game for the Nittany Lions has been dynamic all season led by the freshman tandem of Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen.

Once those two get going, the pass and play action can become very effective and ultimately lead to an efficient Sean Clifford and offense as a whole.

Defensively, the Nittany Lions will need to continue their success at stopping the run especially given the fact that the pass defense could suffer with Porter Jr. out. Penn State has only allowed two 100+ yard rushers all season, and keeping Ja'Quinden Jackson in check will be critical. Jackson is coming off two straight 100+ yard performances.