Nittany Lions Set to Face Georgia in TaxSlayer Bowl

With freshman running back Saquon Barkley rushing for 1,007 yards this season, several scholarships tied up in talented receivers and running backs- including sophomore receiver Chris Godwin who has a chance to surpass 1,000 yards in the bowl game – Franklin has quite a bit to sell. The Pennsylvania native rushed for 100+ yards against four Big Ten opponents, including games against Ohio State, Northwestern and Michigan State. They haven’t played a bowl game in Florida since the 2011 Outback Bowl loss to Florida.

And after all the ruckus, the amusing part is, neither of the two programs’ futures can be predicted on the basis of performance in the upcoming TaxSlayer Bowl on January 2, because neither team’s new personnel will be tested.

“At this point, it’s in the best interests for our players and our program to hire a guy who’s been calling plays and been successful for a number of years”, Franklin said.

The junior quarterback is statistically the greatest Penn State quarterback of all time. Interim coach Bryan McClendon will coach Georgia against Penn State. “This is a reward for them, and an opportunity to continue to represent our University, which they do so well on a daily basis”. But the Nittany Lions are going bowling, and considering head coach James Franklin is brilliant at building up the positives, coming away with a win would do wonders going into the offseason. The Lions beat the Bulldogs and Herschel Walker in the 1983 Sugar Bowl, 27-23, to give Penn State and Joe Paterno their first national championship. It’s the only winning team the Nittany Lions defeated during the regular season.

The Bulldogs finished the regular season 9-3, earning a second-place rank in the SEC East division.

It is Penn State’s fifth all-time appearance in the TaxSlayer Bowl, formerly the Gator Bowl. This game really wasn’t appreciated until weeks after the September 26 victory, when the Aztecs showed they’re the best team in the Mountain West with an 8-0 conference record.

The Dawgs – who lost to Florida this year, as well as Alabama and Tennessee – have a very similar profile to Penn State with the defense typically outshining an inconsistent offense. It will probably be a weird December for all involved, so it’s tough to know what we should expect from the Bulldogs when they kick off against the Nittany Lions. I’m also pleased that our Penn State community will get to gather in Florida for the first time in five years to celebrate the Penn State family! Longtime Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart has since been named the new head coach, but he will reportedly stick with the Crimson Tide through their playoff run.

Georgia and LSU were the SEC teams under consideration by the TaxSlayer. Franklin came to Pennsylvania after three seasons at Vanderbilt, where he led the Commodores to a bowl game all three seasons, which was the first time the team participated in consecutive bowl games.