Penn State is headed to Rose Bowl to play Pac-12 champion Utah

Dec. 4—Penn State's James Franklin and Utah's Kyle Whttingham know that change is coming to the college football landscape in the form of playoff and conference expansion.

They also understand the Nittany Lions and the Utes will be meeting on Jan. 2 in the final traditional Rose Bowl pairing a team from the Big Ten and one from the Pac-12.

"We're going to be looking at a very different model moving forward," Franklin said Sunday night, hours after the matchup was announced. "There's some history when you talk about the traditional Big Ten (vs.) Pac-12 matchups specifically when it comes to the significance of the Rose Bowl on both of our conferences for as long as you can remember.

"We understand the importance of that and the magnitude of that, but at the end of the day we have to do everything we possibly can to prepare and play well against a really good opponent."

No. 11 Penn State (10-2) is headed to Pasadena, Calif., for the first time in six years and will play No. 8 Utah (10-3), the Pac-12 champion, in the first football meeting between the two schools.

The Lions landed in the Rose Bowl as the best available Big Ten team after No. 2 Michigan and No. 4 Ohio State made the College Football Playoff semifinals.

Penn State finished third in the Big Ten East behind the Wolverines and the Buckeyes, the only two teams that have beaten the Lions.

"Penn State is a tremendous opponent," Whittingham said. "They play great defense and have a couple really good backs (Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen) with nearly 1,000 yards each. Turnover margin is in their favor.

"They do a lot of really good things, things that really good football teams do. It reminds me of us in a way and how we approach the game and how we go about our business."

Utah sealed its second straight Pac-12 title by routing USC 47-24 Friday night, its second victory over the Trojans this season. The Utes' losses have come against Florida, UCLA and Oregon. They're making their second straight Rose Bowl appearance after losing 48-45 to Ohio State last season.

"They're a tough, hard-nosed football team that is resilient and can overcome adversity," Franklin said. "USC is a talented football team and they made their plays. They've got a talented quarterback (Cam Rising) that made plays (against USC) and just kept competing and kept competing.

"They've got a veteran coach who's been there and done that and has had a ton of success in building that program. So it's gonna be a heck of a game and a heck of a challenge at a tremendous venue."

Whittingham served as Urban Meyer's defensive coordinator in 2003-04 at Utah, succeeded Meyer as head coach and has guided the Utes to a 154-73 record. They're ranked in the top 25 nationally in scoring offense (eighth), total offense (17th), scoring defense (24th) and total defense (19th).

Rising has passed for 2,939 yards and 25 touchdowns with seven interceptions and has rushed for 471 yards and six touchdowns.

The Lions are ranked 19th in scoring offense, 35th in total offense, tied for ninth in scoring defense and 16th in total defense.

It's the fourth time in seven seasons that Penn State will play in a New Year's Six bowl, the first time the Lions have done that since 1981-86.

Penn State is playing in the Rose Bowl for the fifth time (1923, 1995, 2009 and 2017) and fourth time as a member of the Big Ten. The Lions played USC in the very first game at Rose Bowl Stadium on Jan. 1, 1923.

The Rose Bowl will host one of the CFP semifinals next year and will be part of the expanded 12-team CFP in two years.

"I grew up in the shadow of the Rose Bowl down there in Southern Cal," Whittingham said. "What a great tradition. I look forward to it every single year. Things are changing. There are going to be major changes, huge changes in college football.

"We're excited to be able to play in the Rose Bowl this year in the traditional fashion and in its traditional time slot (5 p.m. Eastern time). We're elated to be there. The Rose Bowl experience last year was tremendous. We expect more of the same this year."