No. 5 USC (11-1)
               vs.
No. 6 Penn State (11-1)

Date: Jan. 1

Time: 5 p.m. ET

Location: Pasadena, Calif.

Television: ABC

Payout: $17 million

Last result: USC 49, Illinois 17

2008 results:  Penn State; USC

2008 statistics: Penn State; USC

Tickets: Buy them here

Coaches: Joe Paterno (Penn State); Pete Carroll (USC)

Bowl history/last appearance: Penn State 26-12-2 (won 24-17 over Texas A&M in '07 Alamo); USC 30-16 (won 49-17 over Illinois in '08 Rose)

Series: Tied 4-4 (Penn State 26-10 in '82 Fiesta, 21-20 in '93, 38-14 in '94, 24-7 in '96; USC 14-3 in '23 Rose, 19-14 in '90, 21-10 in '91, 29-5 in '00)

What Penn State has to do to win: The Nittany Lions will have to be able to establish TB Evan Royster as a legitimate threat to get to the second level consistently. Oregon State was able to do just that by employing a rugged zone running attack that netted 186 rushing yards for Jacquizz Rodgers in the Beavers’ 27-21 upset over USC on Sept. 25. That’s crucial to forcing Trojan safeties Taylor Mays and Kevin Ellison to cheat up toward the line of scrimmage. If they are able to do as they please, Penn State QB Daryll Clark won’t have a chance against the nation’s top defense, which is allowing just 7.8 points and 122.8 passing yards per game. 

Joe Paterno’s defense needs to force some turnovers out of not-so-sure-handed Trojans such as TB Joe McKnight and provide the Nittany Lion offense with some extra possessions and/or short fields to increase its chances of putting enough points on the board. Only Oregon State and Stanford have scored more than 10 points against USC this season.

What USC has to do to win: Outgoing offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian needs to discover an offensive rhythm that’s been missing for most of the season. That won’t be easy against a Penn State defense that was at or near the top of the Big Ten in every statistical category.  When the Trojans went head-to-head against a formidable foe, which didn’t happen very often this season, they didn’t even remotely resemble the offensive juggernaut that they’ve been over the past several years.

USC also needs to get kicker David Buehler back into the swing of things after missing all three of his field goal attempts in the regular-season finale versus UCLA on the very same field. As isn’t usually the case for the Trojans, three-pointers will be very important.

Opening point spread: USC by 9.5 (46.5)

Prediction: USC 27, Penn State 21

MVP: USC TB Stafon Johnson

Live vote: Who will win?

BOWL BREAKDOWNS Click on each game for a recap of the action                                             BCS GAMES    1/8: Championship — No. 1 Florida 24, No. 2 Oklahoma 14    1/5: Fiesta — No. 3 Texas 24, No. 10 Ohio State 21    1/2: Sugar — No. 7 Utah 31, No. 4 Alabama 17    1/1: Orange — No. 21 Virginia Tech 20, No. 12 Cincinnati 7    1/1: Rose — No. 5 USC 38, No. 6 Penn State 24                                           OTHER BOWLS    1/6: GMAC — Tulsa 45, No. 23 Ball State 13    1/3: International — Connecticut 38, Buffalo 20    1/2: Liberty — Kentucky 25, East Carolina 19    1/2: Cotton — No. 20 Mississippi 47, No. 8 Texas Tech 34    1/1: Capital One — No. 16 Georgia 24, No. 19 Michigan State 12    1/1: Gator — Nebraska 26, Clemson 21    1/1: Outback — Iowa 31, South Carolina 10 12/31: Chick-fil-A — LSU 38, No. 14 Georgia Tech 3 12/31: Insight — Kansas 42, Minnesota 21 12/31: Music City — Vanderbilt 16, Boston College 14 12/31: Sun — No. 24 Oregon State 3, No. 18 Pittsburgh 0 12/31: Armed Forces — Houston 34, Air Force 28 12/30: Holiday — No. 15 Oregon 42, No. 13 Oklahoma State 31 12/30: Texas — Rice 38, Western Michigan 14 12/30: Humanitarian — Maryland 42, Nevada 35 12/29: Alamo — No. 25 Missouri 30, No. 22 Northwestern 23, OT 12/29: PapaJohns.com — Rutgers 29, North Carolina State 23 12/28: Independence — Louisiana Tech 17, Northern Illinois 10 12/27: Emerald — California 24, Miami 17 12/27: Champs Sports — Florida State 42, Wisconsin 13 12/27: Meineke Car Care — West Virginia 31, North Carolina 30 12/26: Motor City — Florida Atlantic 24, Central Michigan 21 12/24: Hawaii — Notre Dame 49, Hawaii 21 12/23: Poinsettia — No. 11 TCU 17, No. 9 Boise State 16 12/21: New Orleans — Southern Miss 30, Troy 27, OT 12/20: Las Vegas — Arizona 31, No. 17 BYU 21 12/20: St. Petersburg — South Florida 41, Memphis 14 12/20: New Mexico — Colorado State 40, Fresno State 35 12/20: EagleBank — Wake Forest 29, Navy 19

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