92,293 fans watched the University of Southern California Trojans defeat the Penn State Nittany Lions by a score of 38-24 in the 95th annual Rose Bowl Game , which took place Thursday at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena . Quarterback Mark Sanchez led the USC offense with 4 passing touchdowns and 413 passing yards, a career high and the second most in Rose Bowl history.USC quarterback Mark Sanchez led the Trojans with 413 passing yards, a career high, and 4 passing touchdowns. The Trojan offense surged in the first half, scoring four touchdowns and a field goal to give USC a 31-7 USC lead at halftime. Prior to the game Penn State's defense only allowed an average of 12.7 points per game. Joe Paterno , Penn State's head coach since 1966, watched his team fall behind early from the stadium's press box due to a hip injury suffered in 2006 after a player collided with him during a game. After USC increased their lead to 24 points, television broadcast a shot of Paterno in the press box shaking his head. Paterno commented: "They certainly deserved to win it, but I'm a little disappointed that we weren't a little bit more competitive. And a lot of that was because we made so many mistakes in the first half." The Trojans compiled a record of 12-1 during their 2008 season , the sole loss coming when the Oregon State Beavers defeated the then-top-ranked Trojans on September 25. A win in that game possibly could have earned them a spot in the BCS National Championship Game , which is set to be played next week between the Florida Gators and the Oklahoma Sooners . On the win, Sanchez commented, "We mixed up the run and the pass so they couldn't really key on anything. I think we really maximized our potential. I don't know if it was a matter of opening up the playbook or us just executing very well. Maybe a little bit of both." The Nittany Lions finished the 2008 season 11-2, with the only regular season loss at the hands of the Iowa Hawkeyes . Incidentally, Penn State defeated Oregon State on September 6, 2008. 
92,293 fans watched the University of Southern California defeat the by a score of 38-24 in the 95th annual , which took place Thursday at the in . Quarterback Mark Sanchez led the USC offense with 4 passing touchdowns and 413 passing yards, a career high and the second most in Rose Bowl history.USC quarterback led the Trojans with 413 passing yards, a career high, and 4 passing touchdowns. The Trojan offense surged in the first half, scoring four touchdowns and a field goal to give USC a 31-7 USC lead at halftime. Prior to the game Penn State's defense only allowed an average of 12.7 points per game. , Penn State's head coach since 1966, watched his team fall behind early from the stadium's press box due to a hip injury suffered in 2006 after a player collided with him during a game. After USC increased their lead to 24 points, television broadcast a shot of Paterno in the press box shaking his head. Paterno commented: "They certainly deserved to win it, but I'm a little disappointed that we weren't a little bit more competitive. And a lot of that was because we made so many mistakes in the first half." The Trojans compiled a record of 12-1 during their , the sole loss coming when the defeated the then-top-ranked Trojans on September 25. A win in that game possibly could have earned them a spot in the , which is set to be played next week between the and the . On the win, Sanchez commented, "We mixed up the run and the pass so they couldn't really key on anything. I think we really maximized our potential. I don't know if it was a matter of opening up the playbook or us just executing very well. Maybe a little bit of both." The Nittany Lions finished the 11-2, with the only regular season loss at the hands of the . Incidentally, Penn State defeated Oregon State on September 6, 2008. Sister links
R
Trojans defeat the Penn State Nittany Lions
defeat the
D
Rose Bowl Game
R
Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena
in
D
Mark Sanchez
D
Joe Paterno
D
2008 season
D
Oregon State Beavers
D
BCS National Championship Game
R
Florida Gators and the Oklahoma Sooners
and the
D
2008 season
D
Iowa Hawkeyes
A
Sister links