Rose Bowl: Penn State vs. USC

USC vs. Penn State, Thurs. Jan 1, 2009 (5:00pm ET)

The granddaddy of them all!

It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that this year’s Rose Bowl between the men of Troy and the boys from Happy Valley may very well be a battle between defenses. Most analysts and media types aren’t giving Penn State much of a chance, since everyone jocks USC’s defense about as much as they jock Tim Tebow…almost. The fact remains that the Nittany Lions D isn’t something you’d want to mess with either. Southern Cal does rank number 1 in the country in pass defense, while Penn State comes in at a meager number 12, but in comparing rushing defenses, SC ranks number 5 to Penn States number 9.
Neither of these teams jumps off the charts on the offensive side of the ball, but Mark Sanchez (USC) and Darryll Clark (Penn State) are both solid enough quarterbacks to at least be efficient with the pill come New Years day. With the decision of Penn State back up quarterback Pat Devlin to transfer out of the program, Joe Pa and the Lions could be in trouble if Rey Maualuga and the rest of the Trojans D do start to tee off on Clark. USC isn’t without a pre-bowl game loss, however. Fullback Stanley Havili has been declared academically ineligible, which means Sanchez will be without a potential weapon as Havili is thought to be an excellent receiver out of the backfield.

The front seven should match up pretty well in this game, so you’d have to think Joe Pa would want to spread the ball out, as that might be the only way to keep the Trojans D a little more back on its heels, and may keep them from shutting down Evan Royster and the Lions rushing attack. Pete Carroll and USC better come in ready to sling the pill. It’s going to be tough going for USC to gain significant yardage on the ground. Special teams will most likely be the biggest game changer. Both squads have more than capable return men, who could break for big yards at any time, so this probably won’t be a game your kicker would want to take off.

It does need to be said that the Pac-10 and Big Ten weren’t the strongest of conferences this year, and neither of these teams have played many meaningful games, so it will be nice to see these teams play against another quality program with something as prized as a Rose Bowl ring on the line.


Peace,

J-Money Millionare