Memphis Penn State 53 – Memphis 39 Volume 82, Issue 13 Dec. 31, 2019 Penn State has played 50 times in 15 different bowls since 1923. But the longest hiatus since the Nittany Lions’ last appearance in any of those 15 bowls was the 45 years since State last competed in the popular Cotton Bowl. When the Lions last played in the Cotton Bowl Classic, Ridge Riley was still writing this Football Letter, Joe Paterno was in his ninth year as head coach, and Ed Czekaj was the Athletic Director. They all loved the Cotton Bowl because Penn State was treated well and never lost there. Ed Czekaj was a member of Penn State’s undefeated 1947 team and played in Penn State’s first appearance in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 1, 1948 against undefeated Southern Methodist University—led by Heisman Trophy winner Doak Walker. Texans were very hospitable to the Nittany Lions but didn’t think they stood a chance against the Southwest Conference champions because Penn State had only ever played in one bowl game—the 1923 Rose Bowl, where they lost to Southern Cal, 14-3. Nittany Lion tailback Wally Triplett and end Dennie Hoggard were the first two African-Americans ever to play in the Cotton Bowl. Because all hotels in Dallas were segregated at that time, Penn State’s white players refused to abandon their teammates, and they all stayed together on a military base 14 miles outside of town. This was one of the early instances that led to State’s now famous “We Are” cheer. The Nittany Lions surprised the southerners by tying No. 3-ranked SMU, 13–13, as Triplett on offense scored one of the Lions’ touchdowns and on defense prevented at least three by SMU, according to Riley. But poor Ed Czekaj was haunted by the fact that he missed his second extra point attempt that could have won the game for Penn State. (However, Walker also missed the one that could have won for SMU.) Penn State’s second appearance in the Cotton Bowl was Jan. 1, 1972, following State’s 10-1 record in the 1971 regular season. That year former President Lyndon Baines Johnson was the No. 1 supporter of the Texas Longhorns, who were looking forward to feasting on some Eastern Lion meat. But after halftime the Nittany Lions turned the tables and feasted on enough beef steaks to get the energy to score 27 unanswered points and Hook the ‘Horns for a runaway 30–6 victory. Just three years later, Joe had the Lions back in the Cotton Classic to face a fired-up Baylor team that had just won its first Southwest Conference championship in 50 years. This time the internationally known evangelist Billy Graham came to town and joined the Baylor Baptist Bandwagon behind the very likable Coach of the Year award-winner Grant Teaff, who was also a Baptist lay preacher. (The same one who offered an invocation before Saturday’s game with Memphis.) Rebounding from a 7–3 halftime deficit, the Lions charged to 38 second half points and ate the Bears, 41–20, while setting a record for most points scored by any team in the then 39-year old Classic. So Penn State always had success in the Cotton Bowl played in the original stadium on the Texas State Fairgrounds in Dallas. And Saturday’s game—now played in AT&T Stadium, one of newest and largest domed facilities in the world— against the AAC champion and highest-ranked opponent from the Group of Five conferences was no exception. In a contest that proved highly exciting to fans of each team, No. 10 Penn State emerged victorious against the 17th-ranked Memphis Tigers, 53–39, in a contest that set a Classic record for combined points by both teams—92. The crowd-pleasing contest matched Memphis’ explosive passing attack against State’s explosive rushing attack. Just as in each previous Classic, the Lions’ opponent scored first and clung to an early lead, until the Nittany Lions’ offense got untracked and their defense took control. Ultimately, Penn State ground out a school bowl record 396 yards for a Cotton Bowl record-tying five rushing touchdowns— two each by Journey Brown and Noah Cain and one by Devyn Ford. The Lions tallied one passing TD on Sean Clifford’s four-yard toss to Jahan Dotson, and safety Garrett Taylor grabbed a pick-six interception, when Micah Parsons hurried Tiger quarterback Brady White into attempting an ill-advised shovel pass. State got a 45-yard field goal from Jake Pinegar, and Clifford completed a two-point conversion toss to tight end Pat Freiermuth after Cain’s second TD for the final points. While QB Brady White passed for a record 454 yards, Memphis could score no touchdowns through the air and had to rely heavily on an all-time bowl record of six field goals by Riley Patterson, who was honored as the best place-kicker in the American Athletic Conference this fall. Patterson was perfect on boots of 48, 37, 44, 51, 41 and 42 yards. The Tigers could muster only three touchdowns on short plunges by running backs Patrick Taylor and conference Rookie of the Year Kenneth Gainwell plus signal-caller White. Memphis, which posted its first-ever 12–1 season this fall to earn its first appearance in a New Year’s Six Bowl, got the first score on its first possession. White ignited an 11-play 58-yard drive with a 40-yard pass to All-AAC wide receiver Damonte Coxie on the Tigers’ second offensive play. Patterson capped the drive by booting a 48-yard field goal for a 3–0 lead. Penn State quickly responded with a 3-play 75-yard scoring drive in just 56 seconds to take a 7–3 lead, after Sean Clifford passed 12 yards to Jahan Dotson and 31 yards to KJ Hamler, before running back Journey Brown broke four tackles on a determined 32-yard gallop to the end zone. But Memphis scored on each of its three possessions in the first quarter. On the Tigers’ second possession, White uncorked a 56-yard pass to Kendarian Jones on a third-and-eight situation. And three plays later Patrick Taylor rushed three yards into the end zone to cap a six-play, 75-yard march. On their third possession, Patterson booted his second field goal – this time for 37 yards—to cap a 10-play 40- yard drive. And the Tigers delighted their fans with a 13–7 lead after the first 15 minutes of play. But State quickly silenced the Memphis fans by outscoring the Tigers 28 to 10 in the second quarter to take a 35–23 lead into the locker room, before the Texas Rangerettes and each school’s marching band put on a sparkling halftime show. Memphis showed new life early in the second half to cut Penn State’s lead to 35-33, but from there the Nittany Lions pulled away to the final 14-point margin of victory. The high-flying Tigers racked up 479 yards through the air but produced only 18 points from Patterson’s six field goals. The ground-pounding Lions gained only 133 yards passing but garnered eight points through the air on one TD and a two-point conversion. But those hard-charging Lion runners covered 396 yards to set up 35 points on touchdowns and three points on Pinegar’s field goal. Journey Brown set a Penn State bowl record of 202 rushing yards on just 16 lugs of the pigskin for a 12.6 yards-per-carry average and earned the Most Outstanding Offensive Player Award. Noah Cain followed the blocks of his offensive line 15 times and barreled through the Tiger defense for a career-high 92 yards in his first game action since being injured two months ago. Ricky Slade carried only five times, but his first run of 44 yards propelled him to a 58-yard total for an 11.6 ypc average. And quarterback Sean Clifford netted 28 yards rushing. Meanwhile, Penn State’s offensive line won most of the battles in the trenches, while the Lion defense held the Tigers at bay and also scored a touchdown on Taylor’s 15-yard interception return. Neither team gained much yardage on kickoff or punt returns. Sophomore All-American linebacker Micah Parsons led all defenders with 14 tackles, including two QB sacks for 17 yards in losses and another tackle for a loss of 10 yards, plus two forced fumbles and two pass breakups. Seven Lion defenders collaborated on nine tackles for 58 yards in losses, including six QB sacks for 44 yards in losses. Safety Garrett Taylor and cornerback Marquis Wilson each got interceptions and gained 28 yards on returns. State’s defense also broke up six Tiger pass attempts and added four QB hurries. The Memphis defense got only six tackles for 16 yards in losses, two pass breakups and two QB hurries. Coach James Franklin said Penn State won the explosive play, field position, turnover, and penalty battles that were keys to the outcome of the game. He said the whole week at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl was “an unbelievable experience.” Franklin also noted that the 11–2 Nittany Lions posted their 24th season with at least 10 wins and their fifth in the last 12 years. He pointed out that State is 42-11 over the last four seasons for its best four-year total since the 1993-96 teams had a composite mark of 42-7.