38-24. That was the final score of the Rose Bowl, with #5 ranked USC cruising by #6 Penn State, with the game not being as close as the score suggests. Only a 2nd half rally by Penn State made the score seem somewhat respectable, with Joe Pa seen shaking his head from the press box as USC jumped out to a 31-7 first half lead. USC QB Mark Sanchez passed for 413 yards and 4 touchdowns, and left USC fans and RB Clark Gable claiming that, "We know we would crush Florida and Oklahoma." With fans and coaches calling for a college football playoff, debacles such as USC steamrolling an overmatched Penn State team time and time again reinforce the argument for a playoff.
USC S Taylor Mays with the monster hit
However, USC pummeling an overmatched Big 10 team is hardly a headline confined to the 2009 Rose Bowl. An overachieving Illinois team snuck into the Rose Bowl last year, and USC proceeded to systematically destroy Juice Williams and Co. 49-17 in a game that was not as close as the score suggests.
The year before? USC pummels Michigan 32-18. In fact, often over matched Big-10 teams have wandered into the Rose Bowl as mere cannon fodder, with the last Big 10 victory coming in 2000 with Ron Dayne leading Wisconsin to a 17-9 Rose Bowl win over Stanford.
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