Some numbers to illustrate the awesomeness.
Numbers cannot tell the full story of the 2017 Rose Bowl, which I think was the best game (so far) of this college football season. It was packed with emotional twists and turns, Saquon Barkley jukes, and Sam Darnold bullet passes.
But the game was so good and so loaded with offense that the numbers were bound to be astonishing and cool, and they definitely are. Here are 19 of them, stacked up against other figures from 102 other Rose Bowls dating back to 1902.
1,141 yards of total offense between Penn State and USC, the second-most in a Rose Bowl ever. It’s just shy of the 1,167 between Oregon and FSU two years ago.
473 total yards of offense for Darnold, USC’s redshirt freshman quarterback — the most ever by one player in a Rose Bowl, topping Vince Young’s 467 in 2006. Young still did what he did to USC that night, but this is a nice thing feather in the Trojans’s cap.
453 passing yards for Darnold. That’s just short of the all-time Rose Bowl record of 456, set by Oregon’s Danny O’Neill against Penn State in 1995. (Penn State gives up lots of air yards in Pasadena.) Darnold’s No. 2 on the all-time single-game Rose Bowl list, ahead of fellow Trojan Mark Sanchez (413).
194 rushing yards for Penn State sophomore Barkley, tied for the seventh-most ever in a Rose Bowl. Charles White’s 247 for USC in 1980 is still the all-time best.
187 receiving yards for Penn State’s Chris Godwin, the fourth-most ever in a Rose Bowl. USC still has the top two marks all time: Keyshawn Johnson’s 216 in 1996 and Dwayne Jarrett’s 205 in 2007.
150 total plays, ninth-most all-time in a Rose Bowl. The game had some pace.
101 combined points, the most ever in this bowl game. The previous high, 83, happened in the 2012 game between Oregon and Wisconsin.
79 yards on this Barkley run, the longest USC gave up all year.
72 yards on this Chris Godwin touchdown catch from Trace McSorley, the longest pass USC gave up all year and the third-longest touchdown catch in the history of the Rose Bowl.
55 degrees at kickoff, the coldest since 1974.
52 points was USC’s third-highest total in any bowl ever.
49 points in defeat for Penn State, the most ever by a Rose Bowl loser.
33 first downs for USC’s offense, the most ever by one team in a Rose Bowl. Wisconsin had 32 (against USC) in 1963.
13 combined touchdowns, breaking the previous Rose Bowl mark of 11, set between USC and Wisconsin in 1963.
13 catches for USC’s Deontay Burnett, the second-most ever in the game. UCLA’s J.J. Stokes had 14 in 1994.
9 combined passing touchdowns, the most ever in a Rose Bowl. The previous mark was seven, also set between USC and Wisconsin in 1963.
5 of those passing TDs by USC, the most ever by one team in a Rose Bowl.
3 times intercepted for McSorley, tying him with nine others for the most in a Rose Bowl. One of those is Jim Harbaugh, who threw three picks in 1987’s game.