Jan. 12, 2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - Five Nittany Lions earned spots on a variety of All-Bowl teams, led by running back Saquon Barkley (Coplay, Pa.) and wide receiver Chris Godwin (Middletown, Del.). Barkley was a consensus selection on the All-Bowl teams, while Godwin was named first team by NCAA.com and Sports Illustrated and second team by Athlon.
Freshman punter Blake Gillikin (Smyrna, Ga.), redshirt-freshman offensive lineman Ryan Bates (Warrington, Pa.) and sophomore quarterback Trace McSorley (Ashburn, Va.) were named to ESPN.com's Big Ten All-Bowl team.
Saquon Barkley, So., RB
All-Bowl Teams: Associated Press (all-purpose), Sports Illustrated, Athlon, NCAA.com, ESPN.com Big Ten Team
- Stat line: 25 carries, 194 rushing yards, 2 TD; 5 receptions, 55 yards, 1 TD; 2 KO returns, 57 yards; 306 all-purpose yards, 3 total TD
- Penn State is the first team in Rose Bowl history to have a 175-yard rusher and receiver in a game with Chris Godwin having 187 receiving yards and Saquon Barkley tallying 194 rushing yards.
- Rushed for 194 yards on 25 attempts, which ranks tied for seventh in Rose Bowl history.
- Broke the Penn State bowl record for rushing yards (194), topping the mark for 186 set by Blair Thomas in the 1989 Holiday Bowl.
- Had 306 all-purpose yards (194 rushing, 55 receiving, 57 kick return) against USC, which ranks third in Penn State history.
- His 7.8 yards per carry are third in Penn State bowl history.
- His two rushing scores are tied for second in Penn State bowl history.
- His 79-yard rushing touchdown was the seventh-longest in Rose Bowl history and second-longest scoring run in Penn State bowl history.
- His 18 points scored are tied for second in Penn State bowl history with Ki-Jana Carter's 1995 Rose Bowl performance.
- Has 263 rushing yards in two career bowl games, which ranks third in Penn State bowl history.
Chris Godwin, Jr., WR
All-Bowl Teams: NCAA.com, Sports Illustrated, Athlon (second team), Associated Press (honorable mention), ESPN.com Big Ten Team
- Stat line: 9 receptions, 187 yards, 2 TD
- Penn State is the first team in Rose Bowl history to have a 175-yard rusher and receiver in a game with Chris Godwin having 187 receiving yards and Saquon Barkley tallying 194 rushing yards.
- QB Trace McSorley hit Godwin for a 72-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter. The scoring pass is tied for the third-longest scoring pass in Rose Bowl history and tied for the longest in Penn State bowl history.
- Has a pair of 72-yard touchdown catches in his bowl career at the Rose Bowl and the 2014 Pinstripe Bowl. The other 72-yard touchdown catch in Penn State bowl history was from Tom Shuman to Chuck Herd in the 1974 Orange Bowl.
- Broke the Penn State career bowl receptions record with 22 catches in three bowl games. He breaks the previous mark of 16 held by Bobby Engram.
- Has added to his Penn State record for career receiving yards in bowl games and now has 460 yards in three bowl games.
- Broke the Penn State record for receptions in a bowl game with nine catches, breaking the mark set by Andrew Quarless (8) in the 2010 Capital One Bowl.
- Had a career-high 187 receiving yards on nine receptions to rank fourth in Rose Bowl history.
- Broke the Penn State bowl receiving record (187), breaking the 154-yard performance by David Daniels in the 1990 Blockbuster Bowl, and the Penn State junior record, breaking the mark of 173 yards by Allen Robinson (twice in 2014). Godwin's effort ranks sixth in program single game history.
- Registered a 100-yard effort in each of his three bowl games (140 in 2014 Pinstripe Bowl; 133 in 2016 TaxSlayer Bowl).
- Has three of the top four bowl performances in program history.
- Has three career bowl touchdown catches, which is tied with Bobby Engram for the most in Penn State bowl history.
Ryan Bates, Fr., OL
All-Bowl Team: ESPN.com Big Ten Team
- Penn State scored touchdowns on four consecutive offensive plays. The only other team to do that in the last 10 seasons was Southern Miss against Louisiana Tech last season. (per ESPN stats)
- Penn State had a Rose Bowl-record 28 points in the third quarter. Previous record was 27 by three teams.
- The Nittany Lions had seven touchdowns, which ties for third in Rose Bowl history.
- Penn State posted three of the 12 fastest scoring drives in Rose Bowl history (1st - 0:05; 7th - 0:11; 12th - 0:17).
- Penn State is the first team in Rose Bowl history to have a 175-yard rusher and receiver in a game with Chris Godwin having 187 receiving yards and Saquon Barkley tallying 194 rushing yards.
- Penn State's 465 yards of total offense are fourth in the school's bowl history and are the most since the 1996 Outback Bowl (487).
- The Nittany Lions' 222 passing yards rank eighth in Penn State bowl history.
Blake Gillikin, Fr., P
All-Bowl Team: ESPN.com Big Ten Team
- Stat line: 5 punts, 254 yards, 50.8 average, long punt of 65 yards, 1 inside 20
- Averaged 50.8 yards on five punts, which ranks third in Rose Bowl history and tied for third in Penn State bowl history.
Trace McSorley, So., QB
All-Bowl Team: ESPN.com Big Ten Team
- Stat line: 18-for-29, 254 yards, 4 TD, 3 INT; 6 rushes, 13 yards, 1 TD
- Had 254 yards on 18-of-29 passing, which is third in Penn State bowl history.
- His four passing scores are tied for second in Rose Bowl history and are tied with Tony Sacca (1992 Fiesta), Wally Richardson (1996 Outback) and Christian Hackenberg (2014 Pinstripe) for the most in Penn State bowl history.
- His five touchdowns responsible for (4 passing, 1 rushing) are tied for the most in Rose Bowl history and break the Penn State bowl record.
- Has 396 passing yards in two career bowl appearances, which ranks sixth in Penn State bowl history.
Penn State season ticket renewals and Nittany Lion Club membership renewals also are underway for the 2017 campaign. The ticket invoice and Nittany Lion Club renewal deadline is Feb. 1, 2017. There will not be any increase in the price of Penn State football season tickets or Nittany Lion Club donation levels for next season.
More than 1,600 new season tickets have been sold for the 2017 campaign. For information on joining the Nittany Lion Club and purchasing new 2017 season tickets, as well as club seating in Beaver Stadium, fans can visit www.PSUnrivaled.com, call 1-800-NITTANY weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. or visit the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office weekdays from 10 a.m-6 p.m.