Rose Bowl Pregame Report: The Latest From Pasadena

PASADENA, Calif. | Penn State security Ji’Ayir Brown reduce by way of the schemes and technique to succeed in the core of Monday’s Rose Bowl sport vs. Utah.

“Each groups are going to come back out sturdy,” Brown mentioned. “Whoever can take essentially the most punches and nonetheless stand on the finish of the sport goes to win this sport.”

Gameday has arrived for the 109th Rose Bowl, the final postseason sport earlier than the Faculty Soccer Playoff championship Jan. 9. Penn State (10-2) and Utah (10-3) meet for the primary time in an enchanting matchup of like-minded coaches and their often-similar types. As Brown mentioned, the Lions and Utes ought to commerce loads of punches in Pasadena.

We’re counting all the way down to the Rose Bowl kickoff, scheduled for five:10 p.m. EST on Monday. Till then, here is an updating take a look at the sport.

Who’s In, Who’s Out

Penn State coach James Franklin mentioned left sort out Olu Fashanu is a “gametime choice” for the Rose Bowl. Fashanu, an all-Large Ten lineman, was injured late within the Lions’ loss to Ohio State and missed the final 4 video games of the common season.

Fashanu is unlikely to play, which means freshman Drew Shelton will make his fifth begin at left sort out.

Elsewhere, Franklin mentioned that working again Keyvone Lee and defensive finish Smith Vilbert will likely be obtainable. Lee began the season’s first two video games and made the game-winning landing catch towards Purdue. Since then he has struggled with accidents, lacking seven of the final 9 video games.

Vilbert, in the meantime, final performed within the 2022 Outback Bowl, when he made a full of life three sacks. Vilbert, out for the common season for undisclosed causes, might see some situational snaps on pass-rush downs. 

Placing the Sport On Sean Clifford’s Shoulders

Whittingham has made clear that he views working backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen as Penn State’s high threats. The freshmen topped 1,000 all-purpose yards every this season and will high surpass 1,000 yard speeding; Singleton wants 59 yards, and Allen wants 130.

Which is why Whittingham is prepared to check Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford’s means to win the sport. It helps that his run protection ranked first within the Pac-12, permitting 107 yards per sport.

“Our philosophy, and it seems Penn State may be very comparable, is to be robust towards the run,” Whittingham mentioned. “In the event you can inform a staff they can not run the soccer and switch them one dimensional and get them to 3rd down, third-and-long ideally, and get after the quarterback, that is actually the straightforward method. In its most simplistic phrases, for us [the formula] is take away the run, get after the quarterback on third down, and that is what we attempt for.”

Utah’s Hardest Participant

Franklin famous a number of instances throughout Rose Bowl week that he considers Utah’s hardest participant to be quarterback Cameron Rising. He referenced the Pac-12 title-game play through which Rising took an enormous hit, misplaced his helmet and proceeded to steer the Utes to victory.

Penn State defensive coordinator Manny Diaz liked the play as nicely, saying that, due to Rising, “all people’s degree of toughness picks up.”

“Utah has perception,” Diaz mentioned. “They consider of their chief. Why would not they, due to the way in which that he performs the sport? Once they want a play, … they will name his quantity. He is demonstrated with fairly routine effectiveness that he’ll ship it when it is referred to as to him.”

Noteworthy

• Utah led the Pac-12 in six statistical classes, together with speeding protection, scoring protection, whole protection and third-down protection.
• The groups are comparable in turnover margin: Penn State is +9, and Utah is +8.
• Utah ranks sixth nationally in sacks allowed per sport (0.69).
• The Utes rank eighth nationally in scoring (40 ppg) and have topped 30 in 10 of their 13 video games.
• Penn State has misplaced its final three bowl video games performed in Jan. 3: the 2017 Rose Bowl 952-49 to USC), the 2016 TaxSlayer Bowl (24-17 to Georgia) and the 2012 TicketCity Bowl (30-14 to Houston).

The 109th Rose Bowl

No. 11 Penn State (10-2) vs. No. 8 Utah (10-3)

• When: 5:10 p.m. EST Monday
• The place: Rose Bowl Stadium
• TV: ESPN
• Streaming: fuboTV (Begin your free trial)
• Betting Line: Utah is a 1-point favourite per SI Sportsbook
• Sequence Historical past: First assembly

PENN STATE FANS: SI Tickets is your one-stop store for tickets to quite a lot of Penn State sporting occasions, from soccer to basketball, hockey to volleyball. Want tickets to the Penn State sport? Take a look at SI Tickets.

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Analyst Mike Golic Jr. scouts the Rose Bowl

AllPennState is the place for Penn State information, opinion and perspective on the SI.com community. Writer Mark Wogenrich has lined Penn State for greater than 20 years, monitoring three teaching staffs, three Large Ten titles and a catalog of nice tales. Comply with him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich. And think about subscribing (button’s on the house web page) for extra nice content material throughout the SI.com community.