STATE COLLEGE — Penn State will, indeed, be spending New Year’s in Jacksonville.
Speculation became reality Sunday afternoon, as the Nittany Lions were selected to compete in the TaxSlayer Bowl on Jan. 2 against Georgia. The game will kick off at noon and air nationally on ESPN.
The Nittany Lions haven’t been to the bowl since it was commonly known as the Gator Bowl. This will be their fifth trip to the bowl, with the last coming in 1976, a 20-9 loss to Notre Dame.
Penn State has faced Georgia just once in their storied histories, and it was a pretty storied game for the Nittany Lions.
It came in the 1983 Sugar Bowl, a 27-23 victory that handed then-head coach Joe Paterno his first-ever national title.
“We’re just so excited,” Penn State coach James Franklin said Sunday night. “It’s such a historic bowl game, against a historic program. Our guys are excited. This is two years in a row for us with this opportunity to compete in a bowl, the opportunity to compete against one of the most storied programs in the country, and to go and play well.”
After starting the season with seven wins in their first nine games, the Nittany Lions lost their final three games of the season, all
against ranked foes. They lost, 55-16, at Michigan State in their final game Nov. 28. They haven’t played a bowl game in Florida since the 2011 Outback Bowl loss to Florida.
The Bulldogs finished the regular season 9-3, earning a second-place rank in the SEC East division. Subsequently, the Bulldogs fired head coach Mark Richt following the season, replacing him Sunday with former Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart, who agreed to a six-year deal worth $3.75 million per season, according to published reports.
Receivers coach and assistant head coach Bryan McClendon was named interim coach before Smart’s hiring, however, and he will lead Georgia in the bowl game.
“It has definitely been a little different, I’ll say that,” McClendon chuckled. “One thing that hasn’t been different is that we know it’s about the players. I’m going to do everything I can to make sure these guys are OK. Obviously, we hit a patch during the season where there were a bunch of things that changed. The only way we’re going to get out of it is to make sure those guys are in the best possible places they can be. The bottom line is, I just want to make sure we’re keeping the focus on the players.”
That brings up an interesting scenario for coach James Franklin’s Nittany Lions, who will have to face an team coached by an interim or acting head coach for the fourth time this season. Rutgers’ Norries Wilson, Illinois’ Bill Cubit and Maryland’s Mike Locksley all held that title when Penn State faced them this season, and it went 3-0 in those games. Cubit has since been hired as the Illini’s full-time coach.
Coordinator search
Franklin said he hoped to have a replacement for fired offensive coordinator John Donovan hired within the next two weeks.
In the meantime, quarterbacks coach Ricky Rahne will serve as the interim offensive coordinator and both help construct the game plan and call plays for the Taxslayer Bowl.
“It’s going to be a great experience for Ricky Rahne,” Franklin said.
However, Franklin said the coordinator search is focused solely on candidates currently outside the program.