ARLINGTON, Texas – Penn State returns to the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic for the first time since the 1974 season when the Nittany Lions take on American Athletic Conference (AAC) foe Memphis at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, at noon Saturday, Dec. 28.
(Photo of running back and Meadville graduate Journey Brown. Photo by Paul Burdick. Check out more of Burdick’s work here)
This is Penn State’s fourth trip to the Cotton Bowl and the first at AT&T Stadium. The Nittany Lions last trip in 1974 resulted in a 41-20 win over Baylor. Penn State is 2-0-1 all-time in the Cotton Bowl. The Lions’ first Cotton Bowl appearance ended with a 13-13 tie against SMU in the 1948 game. Penn State also topped Texas, 30-6, in the 1972 contest.
Saturday’s game marks the sixth consecutive year Penn State (10-2) has made a bowl game since being reinstated to bowl-game eligibility during the 2014 season and it is the Nittany Lions third New Year’s Six bowl under head coach James Franklin. Previously, Penn State topped No. 11 Washington in the 2017 PlayStation Fiesta Bowl and lost to USC in the 2017 Rose Bowl after winning the 2016 Big Ten Championship. The last time Penn State had a similar stretch of postseason success was from 1980-82 when it went to back-to-back Fiesta Bowls following the 1980 and 1981 seasons before reaching the Sugar Bowl following the 1982 season.
The Lions are tied for fourth nationally with 29 bowl victories and No. 6 in bowl winning percentage with a 29-18-2 post-season record (61.2) among schools with at least 20 postseason appearances.
It is the 50th overall bowl appearance for Penn State, which is tied for ninth nationally with Ohio State. The Nittany Lions’ 29 bowl victories rank tied for fourth nationally and lead all Big Ten Conference institutions.
Penn State’s 61.2 winning percentage in bowl games (29-18-2 record) is No. 7 nationally among teams with at least 20 bowl appearances. The Nittany Lions made their first postseason appearance in 1923 when they traveled across the country to face USC in the Rose Bowl Game to cap off the 1922 season. The Cotton Bowl marked Penn State’s second postseason appearance on Jan. 1, 1948.
Memphis, on the other hand, is making its 13th bowl appearance and first in a “New Year’s Six” game.
This is the first-ever meeting between Penn State and Memphis Penn State’s previous three Cotton Bowl appearances were also against first-time opponents, as Penn State had not previously met SMU (1948), Texas (1972) or Baylor (1975).
The last time Penn State played a first-time opponent in a bowl game was Auburn in the 1996 Outback Bowl.
From Bellefonte Academy to USC, Penn State has played 158 opponents in its long history, and Memphis will be the 159th. Since 2000, Penn State has faced 15 new opponents, winning all but the first against Toledo (2000).
Penn State has won with defense this season.
That defense is led by first-team All-American Micah Parsons and give up 14.1 points per game, which ranks seventh nationally in scoring defense. The defense also boasts a stingy rushing defense allowing just 97.7 yards per game (5th FBS). Penn State has 39 sacks to average 3.25 sacks per game (10th in FBS), putting it on pace for its fifth consecutive season with 40 or more sacks. Additionally, the Nittany Lions lead the country with 20 forced fumbles.
On offense, Noah Cain is one touchdown shy of tying the Penn State record for rushing TDs by a freshman (D.J. Dozier, 1983; Saquon Barkley, 2015) and he is 148 yards shy of 500 career rushing yards.
Meanwhile, Journey Brown is 268 yards shy of 1,000 career rushing yards, and KJ Hamler is 81 yards shy of 3,000 career all-purpose yards, four receptions shy of 100 career receptions and 142 yards shy of 1,000 receiving yards
First-year starting quarterback Sean Clifford is 479 yards shy of 3,000 passing yards this season. Clifford is expected to be back under center after missing the regular-season finale against Rutgers with an injury suffered in the Ohio State game the week before.
The 10-win season for the Nittany Lions marks the 24th 10-win season in program history and 10th since joining the Big Ten in 1993. The Nittany Lions reached the 10-win mark in the regular season for the 19th time in program history and reached the 10-win plateau for the third time in four years. The last time the Nittany Lions had three 10-win seasons in a four-year span was 1993-96 (10, 1993; 12, 1994; 11, 1996).
This season has continued a string of success for Penn State, which is 41-11 over the past four seasons (2016-19), which is the seventh-best record in FBS. Dating back to 2015, Penn State has won 31 of its last 34 home games.
Penn State’s 48 wins over the last five years (2015-19) rank tied for 10th in FBS and tied for third in the Big Ten (Ohio State, 61; Wisconsin, 52; Michigan, 48). Penn State’s 137 wins over the last 15 years (2005-19) rank tied for 12th in FBS and third in the Big Ten (Ohio State, 171; Wisconsin, 150). Penn State clinched its 15th consecutive winning season. The Nittany Lions join Wisconsin, Oklahoma, LSU and Boise State as the only teams with a winning season each of the last 15 years. Franklin has guided his teams to a winning record each of the last eight seasons (2 at Vanderbilt, 6 at Penn State). Since 2016, Franklin’s 78.85 percent (41-11) winning percentage ranks third among current FBS coaches behind Clemson’s Dabo Swinney 94.91 percent (56-3) and Alabama’s Nick Saban 92.73 percent (51-4).
Penn State has played a tough schedule with eight of its 12 opponents earning bowl invitations including Buffalo, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State and Pitt.
Ohio State (Fiesta Bowl) led Penn State opponents with a No. 2 ranking in the final College Football Playoff rankings to earn a semifinal berth, while No. 8 Wisconsin (Rose Bowl) joins the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions in a “New Year’s Six” bowl.
Nine of 14 Big Ten teams will participate in a bowl game.
Memphis carries a 12-1 overall record and won the American Athletic Conference Championship Game to earn its Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic berth. Season highlights included a season-opening win over Ole Miss, spoiling then No. 15/14 SMU’s 8-0, undefeated season with a 54-48 primetime win in November, and back-to-back wins over a ranked Cincinnati team to conclude the regular season and claim the conference crown.
The Tigers lone loss was at Temple, 30-28, on Oct. 12.
Since Memphis’ loss at Temple, the Tigers have won seven-straight games including three against Top 25 opponents.
Memphis captured its first outright American Athletic Conference championship and first outright conference title since 1969 (Missouri Valley).
The Tigers rank eighth in FBS in scoring offense (40.5 ppg), 10th in total offense (480.7) and sixth in kick return average (26.53).
Running back Kenneth Gainwell, kick returner Antonio Gibson and kicker Riley Patterson were named to the AAC All-Conference first team, while quarterback Brady White was one of six second-team selections and is a Manning Award finalist.
Gainwell ranks ninth in FBS, averaging 150.64 all-purpose yards per game and eighth in total rushing yards with 1,425. Gibson ranks 14th in FBS, averaging 19.88 yards per reception. White ranks sixth in the country with 33 passing touchdowns and ninth with 3,560 passing yards.
The Tigers are under new head coach Ryan Silverfield, who was elevated to head coach for Memphis after the regular season replacing Mike Norvell, who was named the head coach at Florida State.
During the 2019 season, Silverfield served as deputy head coach and offensive line coach.
With Silverfield, Memphis has 38 wins the past four seasons, including two 10-plus win campaigns in 2017 (10-3) and 2019 (12-1). He is the only member of the staff to be a part of both 10-plus win seasons.
Silverfield first came to Memphis in 2016 with more than 18 years of coaching experience at the high school, college and NFL levels.
ABOUT THE GOODYEAR COTTON BOWL
The first Cotton Bowl Classic was founded by J. Curtis Sanford, a Dallas oilman and business executive. He financed the game and guaranteed each institution $10,000, matching TCU and Marquette on January 1, 1937, at Fair Park’s Cotton Bowl Stadium before 17,000 fans.
In 1941, the bowl became affiliated with the Southwest Conference, and that relationship continued to 1996 when the conference disbanded. The game then featured a Big 12 and SEC team before joining the College Football Playoff rotation in 2014.
In 2010, the Cotton Bowl Classic moved from its namesake stadium in Dallas to AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
Throughout the holiday season, AT&T Stadium will spotlight the artwork of the 23rd annual Cotton Bowl Art Contest. Each year, elementary students in North Texas submit thousands of illustrations for the contest.
The Cotton Bowl Athletic Association (CBAA) is a nonprofit organization incorporated under the laws of the state of Texas to promote, sponsor and stage an annual postseason intercollegiate football game in Arlington, Texas.
GOODYEAR COTTON BOWL HALL OF FAME
Penn State greats Lydell Mitchell and Wally Triplett are both members of the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame honors the many extraordinary individuals who have played a significant role in developing the tradition, prestige and pageantry of one of America’s most historic post-season bowl games.
A voting committee comprised of state and national media representatives and select members of the CBAA Board of Directors are appointed every other year to elect the Hall of Fame class.
Mitchell was inducted in 2005 for his 1972 performance against Texas, in which he rushed for 146 yards and a touchdown to lead the Nittany Lions past the Longhorns.
Triplett was inducted in 2018 for not only scoring the game-tying touchdown in the 1948 Classic but for breaking down racial barriers as he and teammate Dennie Hoggard became to the first African-Americans to play in the Cotton Bowl.
BIG TEN IN THE COTTON BOWL
A Big Ten team has competed in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl in five out of the last six seasons, as the Nittany Lions (2019) will join Michigan State (2014, 2015), Wisconsin (2016) and Ohio State (2017).
Prior to the Cotton Bowl joining the College Football Playoff rotation for the 2014 season, Ohio State was the only school to compete in the game as a Big Ten member, doing so in the 1987 edition.
Institutions playing as Big Ten members are 4-1 all-time in the game.
Penn State (2-0-1), Maryland (0-1) and Nebraska (1-4) have all played in the Cotton Bowl, but did so before joining the Big Ten Conference.
The current alignment of the Big Ten is 7-6-1 all-time in the Cotton Bowl.
PENN STATE IN DECEMBER BOWL GAMES
Penn State will be playing in the program’s 19th December bowl game and owns a 12-5-1 record in the month.
This is Penn State’s third time playing on Dec. 28. PSU is 1-1 on Dec. 28, losing the 1990 Blockbuster Bowl to Florida State and defeating Texas A&M in the 1999 Alamo Bowl.
SATURDAY BOWL GAMES
Penn State will be playing in a Saturday bowl game for the 15th time in 50 bowl appearances. Penn State owns a 10-3-1 record in Saturday bowl games, winning four of its last six. Penn State won its first National Championship on a Saturday (Jan. 1, 1983).
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