NCAA Football

Rose Bowl First Look: USC vs. Penn State

Posted Dec 07, 2008 8:59PM By Brian Grummell (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Penn State, USC, Big 10, Pac 10, Bowl Games, FCS

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So it is written, so it shall be done. Pac-10 meets the Big 10's eleventh member as USC challenges Penn State in the Rose Bowl. Tradition wins out for two teams felled by a single defeat, making this one of the better Rose Bowl games in recent memory.

There were no head-to-head battles between the programs this year, but their common opponents give an unclear picture of where this one will go. Penn State thrashed Oregon State on Sept. 6, 45-14. USC followed that on Sept. 13 with a nationally-televised thrashing of Ohio State, 35-3. Then, the predictable on Sept. 25, with Oregon State working USC on a Thursday night game, 27-21. Penn State then snuck by Ohio State at home 13-6 in late October. There's not much meat in the common opponent comparisons, oddly.

The real story here is of a ridiculously talented team with the nation's best defense and a stubborn offense going up against another excellent defensive team that played fantastic offensive football early in the year before slowing down a bit. Television will play up the contrast in styles between USC's bubbly Pete Carroll and Penn State's curmudgeonly Joe Paterno. Think Jeff Spicoli meets Danny DeVito's snarling impersonation of Penguin in Batman Returns.

Color us amused.

As a preview of sorts, we probably owe you a prediction here. Personally, as respectable as these teams are, I doubt there will be little drama in this game. Yes, Penn State absolutely thrashed Oregon State while Oregon State all but whipped USC. Yes, this is just another good year for USC while it's a special one for Penn State. Yes, I'm a USC alum.

However, USC with a month off is nearly unbeatable. They're nearly unbeatable even when they only have a week to prepare for opponents. The Oregon State and Texas-type games will happen on occasion but USC always keeps it close and has had an overall talent edge against everyone they've faced since sometime in 2002. More importantly, their record under Pete Carroll against some very good Big 10 opponents is ridiculous.

In 2002, they crushed one of the better teams in Iowa history, 38-17. The next year they crushed perhaps the best Michigan team since the Wolverines' 1997 title team, 28-14, in a game that was nowhere near as close as the score suggested, as Michigan was held scoreless until nearly the fourth quarter. In 2006, another solid Michigan team was whipped 32-18, once USC decided to move into the 21st century in the second half and throw the football. And then last year USC breezed past Illinois 49-17.

Is Penn State really that different? Doubtful. As far as talent and results, Penn State reminds me most of those two Michigan teams perhaps with a little more creative offense and more options in the running game.

At this point USC is bored of the entire Big 10/Rose Bowl thing, but they were last year as well and came ready to play. USC won't be caught napping and although Penn State is a fantastic team -- particularly the team that destroyed opponents through September and October -- USC should come out ahead. They'll dig the venue and the national attention and do what USC does when they have time to prepare for an opponent -- crush them. There is no Vince Young to worry about on Penn State's team, which has been the lone BCS exception in the Carroll era.

Tags: Batman, Rose+Bowl, RoseBowl

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