Penn State dominates second half in 35-21 Rose Bowl win over Utah

No. 11 Penn State rode big plays to 21 straight points in the second half on the way to a 35-21 win over No. 8 Utah in the Rose Bowl.

After the two teams were tied 14-14 at halftime, PSU freshman running back Nick Singleton broke off an 87-yard run to put the Nittany Lions up by seven in the third quarter.

Less than 10 minutes later, QB Sean Clifford found WR KeAndre Lambert-Smith behind the entire Utah secondary for an 88-yard TD. The longest pass play in Rose Bowl history gave Penn State (11-2) a two-TD lead that was insurmountable for a Utah team that lost Cam Rising in the Rose Bowl for the second consecutive season.

The Utah QB left the 2022 Rose Bowl against Utah after he suffered a concussion when his head hit the turf. Monday night, Rising went down with an apparent left knee injury after he was tackled by four Penn State players while running for a first down. Rising already had a brace on that knee and immediately collapsed to the ground after he got up from the hit and attempted to put weight on his leg.

Like he was a season ago, Rising was replaced by backup QB Bryson Barnes. But Utah’s offense didn’t have any juice with Barnes in the game. Penn State removed any doubt from the outcome just over four minutes after Lambert-Smith’s TD when Kaytron Allen scored a one-yard TD run for a three-TD lead.

Rising walked went to the locker room after his knee injury and returned to the sideline midway through the fourth quarter wearing a hooded sweatshirt and sweatpants.

Sean Clifford goes out with a win

The longtime Penn State starter played one of the best games of his career on Monday. Clifford finished the game 16-of-21 passing for 279 yards and two TDs as he became the winningest QB in Penn State history.

The four-year starter took over as Penn State’s primary QB at the start of the 2019 season and had a solid, if not spectacular career. Clifford never threw more than 10 interceptions in any of his four seasons as the starter and also never threw more than 24 TDs in a single season while completing 61% of his career pass attempts.

Monday’s win was the 32nd victory with Clifford under center and the second time Penn State had won 11 games in a season in his time with the school. With Clifford leaving Penn State at the end of the season, highly-touted freshman Drew Allar is the favorite to take over as the starter.

Allar was a four-star recruit and the No. 5 pro-style QB in the class of 2022 according to Rivals. With Singleton emerging as one of the best running backs in the Big Ten and the possibility of adding a wide receiver or two in the transfer portal, Penn State’s offense shouldn’t take a step back at all in 2023.