Penn State and Utah will take the field on Monday afternoon in Pasadena for the last “normal” Rose Bowl in the pre playoff expansion era. That will one day become a piece of trivia for college football fans many years from now, but in the meanwhile plenty of narratives and storylines will shape Penn State football’s much more immediate future. Here are five storylines to follow as the Nittany Lions look for win No. 11 on the year.
The Final Word: You almost certainly have an opinion about quarterback Sean Clifford and in many cases the criticisms of Penn State’s longtime quarterback are not without reason. The good news for Clifford is that Monday afternoon provides him with a chance to have the final say in how he is remembered. Certainly one game won’t erase a career’s worth of ups and downs, but if he can pilot Penn State to a Rose Bowl win over a Top 10 team it would be hard to argue with that being a decisive entry in Clifford’s favor. It stands to reason Clifford will lean on his stable of running backs and not be the driving force in Penn State’s offense on Monday, but you need good quarterback play to beat a Top 10 team, here’s one more chance to prove he can deliver on that need.
Playing Like You Want To Be There: Penn State is in a unique situation this year having multiple players already declare for the NFL Draft process but also making known they plan on playing in this game. The Rose Bowl is the sort of thing everyone wants to be part of, but in a world where it is often “playoffs or bust” credit where it’s due to this group of Nittany Lions getting up and getting ready. Time will tell if this makes a difference in the outcome of the game, but there are worse things than a team who actually wants to be there. It certainly has never hurt the cause any.
Get Out Of There Healthy: While Penn State certainly wants to focus on Monday’s proceedings and not look too far ahead at all, getting out of Pasadena in more or less the same shape as it arrive would be a crucial first good step towards a productive offseason. The last thing the Nittany Lions need is a young player or returning veteran picking up an injury in the season’s final moments. Not all injuries are created equal, but getting out of the final game of the year in one piece is always a good thing.
Statement Opportunity: Penn State has had plenty of success under James Franklin but one would be hard pressed to say the Nittany Lions have picked up a legitimate statement win under Franklin in quite some time. This season’s win over Auburn had that potential but the Tigers turned out to be pretty bad. Beating a Top 10 team to close out the season – especially at a neutral site, is a great way to springboard into the following year and a great opportunity to give Franklin and his staff a extremely recent answer to the question “what have you done for me lately?”
Change The Narrative: In a similar note to the one above, Penn State has been lingering on the edge of being less relevant than it was a few years ago. 10 wins are hard to argue with, but getting blown out by Michigan and losing yet another close game to Ohio State didn’t help change that narrative any. A bowl win over a team from a completely different conference won’t change Big Ten dynamics any, but proving that the Nittany Lions are capable of picking up marquee wins and aren’t backsliding away from the Buckeyes and Wolverines would go far. Penn State will have to beat Ohio State in particular to prove its value, but after back-to-back seasons full of struggles, getting to 11 wins and doing it with a Top 10 win would change at least some of the perception people have about Penn State right now.
