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Dec. 15, 2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - Approximately 2,000 miles separates Happy Valley from the Valley of the Sun, but the Fiesta Bowl has proven to be Penn State's most frequent and successful bowl destination. The Nittany Lions look to continue that success as they return to the desert for the first time since 1997, taking on No. 11 Washington in the 47th annual Playstation Fiesta Bowl, Saturday, Dec. 30 in University of Phoenix Stadium. The telecast begins at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Making its 48th bowl appearance, Penn State is making its seventh trip to the Fiesta Bowl, bringing a 6-0 record. The Lions' most recent National Championship was clinched in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1, 1987, as the underdog Nittany Lions defeated Miami in one of the most memorable battles in program history.
The Nittany Lions are facing a Pac-12 team in a bowl game for a second consecutive season after competing against USC in last season's Rose Bowl. Penn State and Washington last met in the 1983 Aloha Bowl, but have been on a collision course to meet again as both have been among college football's best the past two seasons. Washington won the Pac-12 Championship last year, edging Big Ten-champion Penn State for the fourth-and-final College Football Playoff berth. This season, the Lions and Huskies were among the four two-loss teams that suffered both losses by single digits.
The game will feature intriguing match-ups. Both teams feature elite quarterbacks, as Penn State's Trace McSorley and Washington's Jake Browning were both Davey O'Brien Award semifinalists. Penn State All-American running back Saquon Barkley, the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, will face All-American defensive tackle Vita Vea, the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and leader of the country's top rushing defense.
BOWL BOUND
- Of Penn State's 12 regular season opponents, seven earned bowl invitations: Akron (7-6), Georgia State (6-5), Iowa (7-5), Northwestern (9-3), Michigan (8-4), Ohio State (11-2) and Michigan State (9-3).
- The Nittany Lions went 5-2 against bowl eligible opponents during the regular season.
- Ohio State (Cotton Bowl) led Penn State opponents with a No. 5 ranking in the final College Football Playoff rankings and joins Penn State as one of three Big Ten teams (Wisconsin; Orange Bowl) in the four non-semifinal "New Year's Six" bowl games.
- Eight of 14 Big Ten teams will participate in a bowl game.
STIFF COMPETITION
- Penn State played three ranked opponents (No. 19 Michigan, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 24 Michigan State) in a row for the first time since facing four consecutive ranked opponents in 2004 (No. 20 Wisconsin, No. 20 Minnesota, No. 9 Purdue, No. 25 Iowa).
- Three of Penn State's regular season opponents were ranked in the final CFP rankings: No. 5 Ohio State, No. 16 Michigan State and No. 21 Northwestern.
- Penn State played all three of its games against final CFP Top 25 teams on the road, winning one.
CONFERENCE SUCCESS
- Two of Penn State's opponents reached their respective conference championship games.
- Ohio State won the Big Ten East Division and defeated Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game.
- Akron won the MAC East Division, but was defeated by Toledo in the MAC Conference Championship game.
LOOKING AHEAD
- In 2018, Penn State is scheduled to play three teams ranked in the final 2017 CFP Top 25 (No. 5 Ohio State, No. 6 Wisconsin, No. 16 Michigan State), including both finalists in the 2017 Big Ten Championship Game (Ohio State and Wisconsin).
- Penn State is hosting all three games against 2017 CFP Top-25 teams, as Ohio State (Sept. 29) will open Penn State's home Big Ten schedule and Michigan State will follow after a bye week (Oct. 13). Wisconsin visits Beaver Stadium for the first time since 2012 on Nov. 10.
- Penn State's season schedules are set through 2019. Two non-conference games remain to be added in 2020 and one remains for 2021.
- Penn State has scheduled at least one Power Five non-conference game scheduled each season through 2025. Penn State has played a Power Five non-conference opponent in each of the last two regular seasons.
HEAD COACH CHRIS PETERSEN
- Chris Petersen was hired as Washington's head coach after the 2013 season.
- In 2016, the Huskies won the Pac-12 Championship, earning a spot in the College Football Playoff and finished ranked No. 4 in the final polls.
- In 2014, Petersen became the fastest active FBS coach to reach 100 career victories -- doing so in 117 games -- and tied with Knute Rockne for fifth-fastest all-time.
- Petersen is the only two-time winner of the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award (2006 and 2009), and he also won the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award in 2010.
- Petersen compiled a 92-12 record in his eight seasons as the Boise State head coach (2006-13).
- Petersen has faced Penn State just once before in his coaching career, doing so as the quarterbacks coach at Pittsburgh in 1992. Penn State won the game, played in Beaver Stadium, 57-13.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
- Washington posted a 10-2 regular season record and 7-2 Pac-12 record, tying for first in the North Division with Stanford. Stanford defeated Washington to earn a berth in the Pac-12 Championship Game.
- Penn State and Washington share a common opponent: Rutgers. Washington opened the season with a 30-14 win in Piscataway, while Penn State hosted Rutgers in November, winning 35-6.
- Penn State (+14) and Washington (+11) both rank in the Top 10 in FBS in turnover margin.
- Washington ranks first in FBS in rushing defense (92.3 yds.), fifth in total defense (277.4 yds.) and sixth in scoring defense (14.5 pts.). Penn State is seventh in scoring defense (15.5 pts.)
- DT Vita Vea was named the Pac-12 Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year, while 10 Huskies earned All-Pac-12 Conference honors.
- Wide receiver Dante Pettis has returned four punts for touchdowns this season, breaking the NCAA record for career punt return TDs (9). He's the nation's leader in punt returns (20.4 avg) and leads the Huskies with 62 receptions and 721 receiving yards.
- Offensively, RB Myles Gaskin ranks third in FBS with 19 rushing touchdowns and QB Jake Browning ranks third in FBS with a 68.8 completion percentage.
NITTANY LIONS EARN 48TH BOWL BERTH
- Penn State is making its 48th bowl appearance all-time, tied for No. 9 nationally with Ohio State. Washington will be making its 38th bowl appearance.
- Head coach James Franklin has guided his teams to a bowl appearance in each of his seven seasons as a head coach (3 at Vanderbilt; 4 at Penn State).
- The Nittany Lions' 28 bowl victories rank fifth nationally, and lead all Big Ten Conference institutions.
- Penn State's 61.7 winning percentage in bowl games (28-17-2 record) is No. 5 nationally among teams with at least 20 bowl appearances.
- Penn State has split its last 10 bowl games, with victories in the 2006 FedEx Orange Bowl (Florida State), 2007 Outback Bowl (Tennessee), 2007 Alamo Bowl (Texas A&M), 2010 Capital One Bowl (LSU) and 2014 Pinstripe Bowl (Boston College). The losses came in the 2009 and 2016 Rose Bowls (USC), 2011 Outback Bowl (Florida), 2012 TicketCity Bowl (Houston) and 2016 TaxSlayer Bowl (Georgia).
- Penn State made its first postseason appearance in 1923 when it traveled across the country to face USC in the Rose Bowl Game to cap off the 1922 season.
ABOUT THE PLAYSTATION FIESTA BOWL
Via FiestaBowl.org
- Former Arizona State University President G. Homer Durham pitched the concept of a Phoenix-area football bowl game in 1968.
- The 1971 Fiesta Bowl was the first contest held. The combined 83 points (Arizona State 45, Florida State 39) was the highest ever for a major bowl game, and 51,098 fans jammed Sun Devil Stadium, marking the largest crowd to watch a bowl game's initial effort.
- Based in Scottsdale, the Fiesta Bowl hosts a variety of local events each year, as well as two elite bowl games -- the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl held at University of Phoenix Stadium and the Cactus Bowl held at Chase Field.
- The Fiesta Bowl has hosted seven National Championship Games.
- The Fiesta Bowl has contributed in excess of $10 million in charitable funds to non-profit organizations in the past seven years.
HAPPY VALLEY OF THE SUN
- Penn State has a 6-0 record in six appearances in the Fiesta Bowl, ranking the Nittany Lions as the winningest team in the game's history in terms of overall wins and winning percentage.
- Penn State participated in the seventh (1977; Arizona State), 10th (1980; Ohio State), 11th (1982; USC), 16th (1987; Miami), 21st (1992; Tennessee) and 26th (1997; Texas) editions of the game.
- Penn State's six appearances in the Fiesta Bowl are the most of any bowl in program history.
- Only Ohio State (8) has appeared in the Fiesta Bowl more than Penn State, while Arizona State (5-1; lone loss to Penn State) and Nebraska (2-4) have six appearances.
- The 1977 Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State was only bowl game Penn State played against a Big Ten team. Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1993.
- The 1982 Fiesta Bowl played between Penn State and USC was the first played on New Year's Day.
- The Nittany Lions won their second National Championship against Miami (Fla.) in one of the most memorable National Championship games ever at the 1987 Fiesta Bowl. The No. 2 Nittany Lions intercepted Heisman winner Vinny Testaverde five times to earn their second 12-0 season.
PENN STATE IN DECEMBER BOWL GAMES
- Penn State will be playing in the program's 18th December bowl game and owns an 11-5-1 record in the month.
- This is Penn State's third time playing on Dec. 30.
- PSU is 1-0-1 on Dec. 30, winning the 1961 Gator Bowl and tying Florida State in the 1967 Gator Bowl.
SATURDAY BOWL GAMES
- Penn State will be playing in a Saturday bowl game for the 14th time in 48 bowl appearances.
- Penn State owns a 9-3-1 record in Saturday bowl games, winning three of their last five.
- Penn State won its first National Championship on a Saturday (Jan. 1, 1983).
TOP PENN STATE BOWL PERFORMANCES IN THE FIESTA BOWL
- Heisman Trophy-winning Miami quarterback Vinny Testaverde threw a Fiesta Bowl-record five interceptions against Penn State's defense in 1987. His fifth interception came on fourth-and-goal from the 13-yard line with less than 20 seconds remaining. Pete Giftopoulos hauled it in at the 1-yard line and returned it to the 10 before downing the ball in one of the greatest moments in Nittany Lion history. It was Giftopoulos' second interception of the game, while All-American linebacker Shane Conlan also had two picks.
- The five interceptions matched Oklahoma's Fiesta Bowl record set in 1976, and the seven total takeaways (2 fum., 5 int.) rank second to Pittsburgh's eight (4 fum., 4 int.) in 1973. Penn State also hauled in four interceptions vs. USC in 1982.
- Helping the Penn State offense and defense in 1987 was punter John Bruno, who punted for a Fiesta Bowl-record 391 yards, as Nittany Lions managed a Fiesta Bowl-low eight first downs. The record stood until 1992 when Penn State's Doug Helkowski set a Fiesta Bowl record with 431 punt yards and a 47.9-yard average.
- RB Curt Warner was selected the Fiesta Bowl's Offensive Player of the Game in 1980 and 1982, becoming the only player to be selected for the honor two-straight years. His 155 yards rushing in 1980 and 145 yards in 1982 rank fifth and seventh, respectively, in Penn State bowl history. His 8.6 yards per carry in 1980 is a Penn State bowl record.
- Penn State gained 351 yards rushing to earn a school bowl record in the 1980 Fiesta Bowl.
- QB Tony Sacca set a Penn State bowl record with four touchdown passes in the 1992 Fiesta Bowl. The record has been tied three times since, including by current QB Trace McSorley in last year's Rose Bowl.
- On a double reverse, WR Chafie Fields set Penn State's and the Fiesta Bowl's longest run record of 84 yards in 1997.
- RB Curtis Enis set a Penn State bowl record by scoring 20 points in 1997 (3 TDs, 1 2-pt conversion). His three touchdowns tied RB Ki-Jana Carter's record-three TD effort in the 1995 Rose Bowl. RB Saquon Barkley became the third to equal the mark with three scores in last year's Rose Bowl.
- LB Matt Millen set a Penn State bowl record with 18 tackles in the 1977 Fiesta Bowl. The feat tied the 1972 Fiesta Bowl record set by Lynn Evans (Missouri) and has been matched only once since in 1995 (Ted Johnson, Colorado).
- More than 70 million people watched the 1987 Fiesta Bowl on primetime telecast on NBC, breaking the previous record for a college football telecast.
- The 1977 Fiesta Bowl broke a then-crowd record with 57,727 fans seeing the Nittany Lions earn a win over hometown Arizona State.
PENN STATE VS. THE PAC-12
- Penn State is 24-14 all-time against the current alignment of the Pac-12 and 5-4 in bowl games.
- The Nittany Lions last played a Pac-12 team in the 2017 Rose Bowl, battling USC.
PENN STATE VS. THE EVERGREEN STATE
- Penn State is 4-0 all-time against Washington schools.
- Penn State last played a Washington team in 1983, facing Washington in the 1983 Aloha Bowl in Hawaii and earning a 13-10 win.
- Penn State's first West Coast game was at Washington in the 1921 season finale, a 21-7 win for the Nittany Lions.
- Penn State played Washington State in a home-and-home series of sorts in 1947 and 1948. Washington State opened the 1947 season by traveling to Hershey, Pennsylvania, to take on the Nittany Lions, falling 27-6, while Penn State made the cross-country trek to close out the 1948 season, earning a 7-0 win in Tacoma, Washington.
PENN STATE-WASHINGTON CONNECTIONS
- Penn State head coach James Franklin, assistant A.D. for performance enhancement Dwight Galt, chief of staff Jemal Griffin, director of football administration Kevin Threlkel, director of football operations Michael Hazel and newly-hired Washington offensive coordinator and quarterback coach Bush Hamdan (who is finishing the season as the Atlanta Falcons QB coach and will not be coaching in the Fiesta Bowl) worked together at Maryland in 2010. Hamdan was an offensive quality control assistant under Franklin, who was the assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
- Washington offensive quality control analyst Derham Cato was a graduate assistant at Vanderbilt for three seasons (2011-13) when Franklin was the head coach. Galt, Griffin, Threlkel, Hazel and Penn State defensive coordinator Brent Pry, offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne, defensive line coach Sean Spencer and wide receivers coach Josh Gattis, director of player personnel Andy Frank and assistant director of performance enhancement Chuck Losey were also on the Vanderbilt staff at the time.
- Penn State assistant director of strategic communications Mark Brumbaugh worked with both Hamdan and Cato at Davidson in 2014. Brumbaugh was the sports information contact for football, while Hamdan was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach and Cato was the offensive line and tight ends coach.
BOWL STANDOUTS
- Penn State enters with two of its most successful bowl standouts in running back Saquon Barkley and quarterback Trace McSorley.
- Barkley ranks third in career bowl rushing yardage at Penn State with 263 yards in two bowl games, which is the most of any Penn State rusher in three or fewer games. He trails Curt Warner (474 yds.) for the Penn State record and Matt Suhey (276 yds.) for second. Both played in four bowl games.
- Barkley owns the top rushing performance in Penn State bowl history with his 194-yard performance in the 2017 Rose Bowl. It included a 79-yard touchdown run that ranks as the third-longest in Penn State bowl history.
- McSorley is in range of Penn State's career bowl records for passing yardage, passing touchdowns and completions.
- McSorley enters the game ranking sixth in Penn State bowl history with 396 career bowl passing yards, just 154 yards shy of the record held by Tony Sacca.
- McSorley's six career bowl passing touchdowns trails only Sacca's seven.
- McSorley's 32 career bowl pass completions rank seventh, 14 shy of Kerry Collins' record of 46.
- McSorley's 254-yard passing performance in the 2017 Rose Bowl ranks third in Penn State bowl history. It included a record-tying 72-yard touchdown completion.
NITTANY LIONS IN NFL VENUES
- Penn State will be playing in University of Phoenix Stadium, the home of the NFL's Arizona Cardinals, for the first time.
- It will be the 11th current NFL venue that Penn State has played in.
- It will be the second retractable roof stadium that Penn State has played in. The Nittany Lions' first was Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis (Colts) for the 2016 Big Ten Championship Game.
- If the roof is closed for the game, it will be the first time Penn State has played indoors since the 2016 Big Ten Championship Game in the Indianapolis Colts' Lucas Oil Stadium. Penn State is 10-3 all-time indoors, including a 5-1 record in the Carrier Dome, 1-0 records in Lucas Oil Stadium and the RCA Dome, a 1-2 record in the 1975, 1979 and 1983 Sugar Bowls in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and a 2-0 record in the 1999 and 2007 Alamo Bowls in the Alamodome.
- The Nittany Lions have also played in current homes of the Baltimore Ravens (M&T Bank Stadium), Jacksonville Jaguars (EverBank Field), Miami Dolphins (Sun Life Stadium), New Orleans Saints (Mercedes-Benz Superdome), New York Giants/New York Jets (MetLife Stadium), Philadelphia Eagles (Lincoln Financial Field), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Raymond James Stadium) and Washington Redskins (FedEx Field).
- The Lions have played 20 bowl games in 10 different venues that housed NFL teams at the time, posting a 12-8 record.
WINNING WAYS
- Penn State enters the postseason with a 10-2 record for its seventh 10-win regular season since joining the Big Ten and 23rd overall.
- Penn State posted back-to-back 10-win seasons for the first time since the 2008 and 2009 seasons.
- A Fiesta Bowl win would give Penn State its 16th overall 11-win season, seventh since joining the Big Ten (12 wins in 1994; 11 wins in '96, 2005 '08, '09, '16) and first in back-to-back seasons since 2008-09.
- Penn State is 19-3 in its last 22 games, the best span since going 20-2 from 1993-95.
- Penn State is 21-5 over the past two seasons, tying for the eight-best record in FBS.
- Penn State is one of seven teams that has had a winning season the last 13 consecutive years, with only Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, USC, Boise State and LSU also achieving the feat (Florida State can too with a bowl win).
- Penn State completed its home schedule with a second consecutive perfect 7-0 record. It is the first time the Nittany Lions have back-to-back undefeated home seasons since 1985 (6-0) and 1986 (7-0).
- Penn State started a season 7-0 for the first time since 2008, when it started 9-0.
- Penn State's 4-0 start in Big Ten play marked the first such start since 2011, when Penn State began 5-0.
IN THE RANKINGS
- Penn State was ranked No. 9 in the final College Football Playoff rankings (Dec. 3), and was ranked the same by the Associated Press and Amway Coaches Poll.
- Penn State has been ranked in the last 10 CFP rankings, dating back to its first-ever appearance in the first poll of the 2016 season.
- Penn State's 23-straight weeks in the AP Top 25 is the eighth-longest active streak in FBS. (Since 1936; according to CollegePollArchive.com)
STREAKING
- With a win over Nebraska, Penn State extended its home winning streak to 14 games, tied for eighth-longest in the school annals. It is the longest home winning streak since a 14-game streak from 1990-92.
- The Nittany Lions have scored 20 or more points in 22 consecutive games, which is the longest streak in program history, breaking the record of 20-straight games from 1993-95. It is also the third-longest streak in Big Ten history behind the 25-game streak by Michigan State (2013-15) and 46-game streak by Ohio State (2006-14).
- QB Trace McSorley has thrown a touchdown pass in 27 consecutive games, dating to the 2016 TaxSlayer Bowl, extending his school record. It is the second-longest active streak in FBS behind Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield (39).
- TE Mike Gesicki has recorded a reception in his last 26 games, dating back to the 2016 season opener.
- K Tyler Davis has converted a Penn State-record 139 consecutive PAT kicks.
OUT FRONT
- Of the 720 minutes played this season, Penn State has only trailed for 37 minutes, 42 seconds.
- Penn State has played 83.0 percent of its plays (1,708 of 2,057) with the lead, which leads FBS.
- Penn State has also played 60.4 percent (1,180 of 2,057) of its plays with a 10 or more point lead, which is second in FBS only to Alabama (61.2 percent).
According to Coaches by the Numbers
MILESTONE WATCH
- QB Trace McSorley is four pass completions shy of becoming the fourth Penn State quarterback to complete 500 career passes.
- McSorley is 14 pass attempts shy of becoming the fourth Penn State quarterback to attempt 400 passes in a season.
- McSorley needs 134 yards of total offense to become the second Penn Stater to reach 8,000 career yards of total offense.
- WRs Saeed Blacknall and DeAndre Thompkins are both closing in on 1,000 receiving yards for their careers. Blacknall (959) needs 41 more yards, while Thompkins (877) needs 133.
- TE Mike Gesicki is 81 yards shy of 1,500 career receiving yards.
PSU ON ESPN
- Penn State is making its 90th appearance overall and 11th bowl game appearance on ESPN.
- When appearing on ESPN, Penn State is 62-27 overall and 8-2 in bowl games.
- Although Penn State made five appearances in ESPN produced telecasts on ABC and hosted ESPN's College GameDay during the 2017 season, it did not actually play on the ESPN channel during the regular season for the first time since 2006 and just the second time since not appearing on ESPN during its inaugural year in 1979.
BARKLEY, GESICKI NAMED ALL-AMERICANS
- RB Saquon Barkley is Penn State's 100th all-time first-team All-American, 42nd consensus All-American and 14th unanimously-selected consensus All-American.
- Barkley was recognized as a first-team All-American by all five of the NCAA-recognized teams the American Football Coaches Association (running back), Associated Press (all-purpose), FWAA (all-purpose), Sporting News (all-purpose) and Walter Camp Football Foundation (running back).
- The last first-team and consensus All-American at Penn State was defensive end Carl Nassib in 2015.
- Barkley is the first Nittany Lion offensive player to earn Walter Camp first-team All-America status since offensive lineman A.Q. Shipley in 2008 (Stefen Wisniewski was on Camp's second team in 2010).
- Barkley is the first Penn State running back to be named first team All-America and earn consensus recognition since Larry Johnson in 2002.
- Barkley has also drawn All-America honors from Sports Illustrated, ESPN, CBS Sports, The Athletic, Pro Football Focus and SB Nation.
- TE Mike Gesicki was named a second-team All-American by Sporting News and SB Nation.
- S Marcus Allen, LB Jason Cabinda and QB Trace McSorley all received honorable mentions from SB Nation.
VERSATILITY EARNS HORNUNG AWARD
- RB Saquon Barkley was selected as the Paul Hornung Award winner for the most versatile player in college football.
- Barkley is the first Penn State player to win the honor and the second-straight Big Ten student-athlete (Michigan's Jabrill Peppers).
- Barkley will be recognized at the annual Paul Hornung Award Banquet in Louisville, Kentucky, on March 7, 2018.
- Barkley was named to the Paul Hornung Award weekly honor roll four times (Sept. 11, Sept. 25, Oct. 1, Oct. 23) this season.
HEISMAN CONTENDER
- RB Saquon Barkley finished fourth in the 2017 Heisman Trophy voting, behind winner Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma, as well as Stanford's Bryce Love and Louisville's Lamar Jackson.
- Barkley is the 18th Penn State player to finish in the top-10 in Heisman voting and the first since Michael Robinson came in fifth during the 2005 season.
- Barkley's fourth-place finish is the highest for a Penn State player since Larry Johnson came in third in 2002.