Jan 2 2023 – Rose Bowl – Penn St vs Utah
posted December 31
The Game
It’s the GRANDADDY of them all, yo.
It’s one of the best traditions in sports, and it comes on January 2, 2023. Happy New Year!
The Utes bagged their 2nd consecutive (!) PAC 12 title and they’ve treated us to some of the most entertaining games of the season including the opening week loss to Florida (L 29-26) and the one-point win over USC (W 43-42). They roll into Pasadena with a record of 10-3 and have recorded double-digit wins in each of the last three full seasons. Penn St boasts a mark of 10-2 and their only losses have come vs teams that are participating in the CFP (Ohio St, Michigan).
Let’s do ittttttt !
The Details
Utah -2 Penn St (52.5)
MEGALOCKS LINE – Pick em
“Vegas” Implied Projected Score: Utah 27.25 Penn St 25.25
Utah offense vs Penn St defense
C Rising is one of the best QBs in college football as he puts up the stats (66%, 25-7 TD to INT, 409 rush, 6 TD) and just WINS GAMES. The OL does a great job keeping him clean as he’s only been sacked 8 times all season (team – 9). Rising will have to work his magic one more time as he’ll be without their most dangerous target in TE D Kincaid who led the team is receptions, receiving yards, and TD catches before deciding he’d had enough of college football. They’ll also be without #1 RB T Thomas but the RB group is pretty deep and they’ve got a solid run-blocking OL. Penn St has one of the most underappreciated defenses in the naton (#14 FBS total D, #9 scoring D) so it’ll be tough sledding for the Utes considering the players that will be missing on offense. One piece of good news is that the Nittany Lions will be without star CB J Porter Jr who’ll almost certainly be a first round NFL draft choice.
Penn St offense vs Utah defense
They’ve still got some work to do, but there’s no doubt that Penn St made progress this season on offense, particularly with the rushing attack (#43 rush, #49 pass). QB S Clifford has been around since the Nixon administration ** and is basically a “B” version of Utah QB C Rising. Back-up QB D Allar appears to have a bright future and he may make an appearance at some point. The key match-up in this game will be the 1-2 RB combo of N Singleton and K Allen (combined 1,771 rush, 19 TD) and a Utes run defense that’s #1 in the PAC 12 (107 YPG). Clifford will be without his best WR in P Washington but he missed the L2G so it may be that Penn St has learned to cope without him. They aren’t exactly loaded at WR/TE but Utah will be missing star CB C Phillips who was one of the best CBs around.
** needs fact check
Trends, Intangibles and More!
This might be the biggest big-game HC mismatch in recorded sports history with Utah’s Kyle Whittingham going toe-to-toe with Penn St’s James Franklin…….Utah and THE Ohio St University treated us to an absolute classic in last season’s Rose Bowl when the Buckeyes roared back to win a BARN-BURNER by a score of 48-45…….Penn St also treated us to a crazy Rose Bowl game at the end of the 2016 campaign when they fell to USC 52-49.
Summary
There’s not much to choose between these two teams but we lean to the underdog. Their defense is playing really well and don’t forget that they led Ohio St in 4th quarter this year before puking the game away. Let’s get in the game with a LIGHT DUSTING.
Conclusion
Lean – Penn St +2
Note:
‘Official play’ implies we have played the game for our standard wager amount.
‘Lean’ implies we are comfortable suggesting ‘small potatoes’ on the game if you want to get down on some sweet action.
‘No leanage’ implies we won’t be involved in the game from a betting standpoint. In-game wagering possibilities only.