2009 Rose Bowl: Game over by halftime. USC 31, Penn State 7.

I didn't see that coming.

Oh, sure, I said USC would win -- but I thought Penn State would at least put up a fight. Heck, I even thought the Nittany Lions had a puncher's chance.

Ha.

Damian Williams' coming out party, combined with Mark Sanchez doing everything possible to elevate his NFL draft status, was more than enough to shake off a slow start. At the half, Williams had 127 yards in seven catches and a touchdown. Sanchez was 18 of 23 for 276 yards and three touchdowns. His happy feet helped hold Penn State to just one sack. He also picked up 14 yards in four carries for one more touchdown. Jumping up and down in the end zone, he grinned ear-to-ear as he was mobbed by his teammates. He plays football like a kid locked in an ice cream store during a power outage.

At this rate, expect some quality time for guys like Aaron Corp and maybe even Mitch Mustain (who seems like a great candidate to jump to a D-II school if he's never going to get any playing time).

On the other side of the ball, Daryll Clark's mobility helped keep USC honest on a few plays and was the real reason Penn State was able to score. The Trojans have to respect his ability to take off, and so far they have.

Penalties have obviously been hurting Penn State. The Nittany Lions have seven of 'em for 62 yards compared with three for 35 yards against USC. The bigger difference is when those penalties happened. A couple of flags negated big plays, including a turnover. Penn State also coughed up the ball once, only its 14th turnover of the season.

The fumble came with 1:12 left in the half, which was plenty of time for USC to put the nail in the coffin. After scoring its 31st point, most of the team's players took the field and started jumping around, just like they did here last month when they beat UCLA. Unlike the Bruins, the Nittany Lions were too dejected to storm the field. My colleague, Lara Boyko, calls it the Rose Bowl Bounce. I call it marking their territory. Either way, USC is making good on one of its mantras: "Own the Rose Bowl."

-- Adam Rose
Photo by Adam Rose

Comments

[mrs b]

We are from the East, attend SEC or ACC games. The USC fans are the rudest I've ever experienced. I can't believe the foul talking, beer-spewing fans behind us were students. They poured beer on us - our protests resulted in beer poured in our seats. We were there to see the Rose Bowl Parade. I don't think I would make the effort to travel to the Rose Bowl again. We expected some enthusiastic fans, but these were downright abusive.

[PJonG]

The Rose Bowl (football game) is a sham, and has been since the late 1960s, when UCLA and USC began to compete effectively with the majors from "back East". The January 2009 contest is no exception, in that USC got to have the World's Largest Homecoming Game (complete with the Biggest Parade ever) against a bunch of kids from far out of town. The fans were 80% USC -- and in the Rose Bowl, if you're Penn State, that means 80,000 rooting against you, only 20,000 rooting for you. Penn State did get outplayed, regardless, but setting up any college team up for such disadvantages is ridiculous!
If the Rose Bowl chooses USC or UCLA in the future, can we please have some intellectual honesty at least, and just call it The USC/UCLA SECOND HOMECOMING GAME and Victory Coronation?!?