Penn State gets pounded in Rose Bowl
PASADENA, Calif. -- From his perch in the press box, Joe Paterno had a clear view of the havoc unfolding on the field.
Fumbles, missed tackles, ill-timed penalties. It all amounted to an insurmountable first-half deficit Penn State couldn't overcame Thursday at the Rose Bowl.
Final score: Southern California 38, Penn State 24.
Good thing JoePa is coming back for another season as the leader of the Nittany Lions. He wouldn't have wanted want to go out like this.
Big plays, fumbles and ill-timed penalties doomed No. 6 Penn State.
The Nittany Lions' highly regarded defense? Shredded by quarterback Mark Sanchez and No. 5 Southern California. Their Spread HD offense stalled until it was way too late.
Still recovering from hip surgery and sporting a new three-year contract, the 82-year-old Paterno coached from the press box. Having the Hall of Famer on the sideline probably wouldn't have helped.
No. 6 Penn State (11-2) mounted a respectable comeback with a 17-point fourth quarter. But the early hole was too much for the Nittany Lions to overcome.
"We didn't play as we played all year in the first half," Paterno said. "Against a team as good has Southern California, the way they were playing, you're going to get whipped."
The Nittany Lions defense, which had allowed just 12.4 points a game coming into Thursday, had given up a season-high in points by halftime, trailing 31-7.
Penn State also gave up a season-high 474 yards to the Trojans, surpassing the previous season-high of 372 (Illinois) by early in the third quarter.
And by that time, Penn State's chances for victory had long disappeared as the sun set on southern California.
It was also another woeful Rose Bowl for the Big Ten, which is having a ghastly bowl season.
The Big Ten has lost the last three Rose Bowls to USC, and none of have particularly close. The Big Ten is also 1-6 in the current bowl season, with only Ohio State's Fiesta Bowl matchup against Texas left.
Penn State was a last-second field goal against Iowa away from probably playing for the national championship, but that 24-23 loss to the Hawkeyes knocked the Nittany Lions out of that chase.
A Big Ten championship put Paterno's team in the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1995.
And the Nittany Lions looked as if they could challenge the Trojans early.
The Nittany Lions' hopes swelled late in the first quarter after quarterback Daryll Clark's 9-yard touchdown run tied the game at 7.
Then came the USC onslaught. The Trojans' ensuing drive typified the Nittany Lions' frustrations.
Sanchez hit Ronald Johnson for a 15-yard gain to start the series, before finding Patrick Turner down the seam for a 26-yard gain to advance to the Penn State 39.
Anthony McCoy caught another 26-yard pass, this time over the middle to set up Sanchez' 6-yard TD run to put the Trojans up for good 14-7 with 12:27 in the second quarter.
USC exploited Penn State's "bend-but-don't-break" defense. The secondary, which played back mostly in zone coverage, either couldn't get to USC's receivers in time or missed tackles.
The Nittany Lions couldn't take advantage of good plays, either.
Maybin stripped Sanchez in the backfield early in the first quarter, and Penn State's Ollie Ogbu recovered the fumble. But the play was called back after Maybin was whistled for offsides on a drive that eventually led to USC's opening touchdown.
The offense had some bad luck in the first half, too.
Clark and receiver Deon Butler connected on a long pass play that would have put the ball inside the USC 10, but that was negated by an illegal shift flag.
Stephfon Green turned a screen into a 30-yard gain to midfield, but he fumbled on Cary Harris' tackle and the Trojans recovered.
The Nittany Lions finally found some momentum late, holding USC to just seven points in the second half. Clark's 9-yard scoring strike to Jordan Norwood closed the gap to 14 with less than five minutes left in the game.
Fittingly, though, the game ended with Harris intercepting Clark in the end zone.