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LOS ANGELES (AP) — After learning Penn State is heading to the Rose Bowl, Sean Clifford posted a photo At the age of 11, he said “dreams come true” in front of the stadium.
Utah’s Cameron Rising almost made his dream of leading his team to victory at last year’s ‘Granddaddy of Them All’ come true, but didn’t make it.
On Monday, Clifford and Rising will look to lead their respective teams to victory when the No. 9 Nittany Lions face No. 7 Ute in the 109th Rose Bowl.
The matchup also features something that has become rare in college football: experienced quarterbacks on both sides. Clifford and Rising have appeared in his 77 games, the highest total he has started QB in his New Year’s Six Bowl games this season.
Clifford, a sixth grader, will be playing in his 52nd and final game with the Nittany Lions (10-2, 11th in CFP). It’s his 27th Uté appearance (10-3, 8th in CFP) for his junior rising.
“It’s great to see people staying in one program longer. I think it sums up the whole game,” said Utah offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig.
In addition to experience, Rising and Clifford have similar games. In addition to being accurate passers, both are happy to run the ball.
Both quarterbacks have young running backs who rely on tight ends to beef up their passing offense.
“If you look at Penn State’s defense and offense, you see a lot of similarities in their approach[to Utah]. Starting at the quarterback position, I have two veteran guys around me.”
Rising is the first quarterback since Stanford’s Kevin Hogan to make two consecutive Rose Bowls appearances. The junior’s goal this time is to top Uté after his 48-45 loss to Ohio State in one of his highest-scoring games in Rose Bowl history.
Rising finished with 306 yards and had 3 touchdowns (2 passing, 1 rushing) but came out in the 4th quarter after slamming his head into the turf trying to escape a sack. . Backup Bryson Barnes threw a 15-yard pass to Dalton Kincaid to tie it at 45 with 1:54 remaining, but Ohio State ran down the field and kicked the game-winning field goal.
“I remember seeing it right after they celebrated and had the ceremony, and after I left the field. It’s been etched in my mind ever since,” Rising said. Standing on that podium would mean the world, I’ve always dreamed of getting that trophy and I want to know what it feels like.”
Midway through the season when Ute was 4-2, a return trip to Pasadena seemed far away. However, they managed to win his 6 of his last 7 games. Among them was his 47-24 victory over Southern California in the Pac-12 Championship Game, which helped secure the spot.
One of the biggest reasons is Rising’s consistent play.
He was fourth in the Pac-12 with a career-high 25 TD passes and third with a completion percentage of 66.2%. He has made his eight games with multiple touchdown passes this season and has completed at least 70% of his passes in four games.
“We believed in our game plan and what was there,” Rising said. “We know some parts fell through, but we had to handle the business to make it happen.”
One question Rising has yet to answer this week is whether this will be their last game in Utah. He said he didn’t want to keep anyone guessing and would announce something once the season was over.
Clifford, who attended quarterback camp at the Rose Bowl as a fifth grader, is tied for third-most games played among active Football Bowl subdivision quarterbacks. He leaves Penn State as the leader in his school career in passing yards (10,382), passing TDs (84), completions (817), attempts (1,335), and completion percentage (.612).
The victory over Utah was his 32nd, breaking a tie with Trace McSorley for the most in program history.
Clifford is also one of three Power Five conference quarterbacks to record 10,300 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in his career.
Clifford hopes to end his college career with a win, but he’s enjoying his preparation as well as taking his team to the Rose Bowl.
“I am thrilled to represent Penn State once again and to do it on a grand scale like the Rose Bowl. I am,” he said.
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