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FanHouse gathers around the TV to bring you insights from Bowl Season '08.
In writing about Five Things To Get You Ready For The Rose Bowl, I said "Penn State is not your average Big Ten team". Yes ... and no. Having watched USC steamroll various Big Ten opponents under Pete Carroll, this Penn State team seemed superior to most if not all of them. Yet it wasn't enough thanks to a chaotic second quarter that saw USC surge from a 7-all tie to an insurmountable 31-7 lead.
Penn State fought valiantly against a bored USC in the second half, enough so that a late USC punting mistake in the last minute very nearly made it a ballgame again. But it was clear who was superior all afternoon, USC's lead peaking at 38-14 before things got silly on the way to a 38-24 victory.
Fitting for a west coast team, USC surged on the strength of its passing game and a handful of ill-timed Penn State penalties.
Both defenses traded punts for a while in the first quarter, hinting at a defensive struggle. Then, USC found the end zone. Penn State answered with an 80-yard scoring drive of its own. And then USC answered again. And again. And again. A small army of self-inflicted penalties by Penn State proved crucial, limiting both successful offensive plays and defensive stops. Regardless, USC's passing game found stable ground in that second quarter, shredding the Penn State secondary as Trojan quarterback Mark Sanchez went virtuoso. He finished the game with an 80% completion rate, more than 400 yards and four touchdowns to earn game MVP honors.
The second half saw USC sleepwalk for the most part besides a broken-play 45-yard scoring pass to a wiiiiide open Ronald Johnson. Meanwhile, Penn State continued to play and score points, but USC's lead -- and the limited clock -- held off the surge.
Penn State had a magnificent season and did prove competitive at times with USC, but USC is USC for a reason and with a month off they took vicious, brutal, humiliating and decisive advantage when they found those openings in the second quarter.
In a bit of a sideshow moment, Joe Paterno refused a "contractual" pregame interview with ABC reporter Lisa Salters. Salters, miffed, outed his poor form and made known that he could be fined for his actions. She did say that all week the attention pointed towards him and not his team had led him to a "slow boil" capped by standing up all media attention as he coached the game from the press box. That's Joe though, always the curmudgeon and perhaps in the right however tactless.
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