Kentucky v. Penn State

On New Year’s Day, a battle between Blue and White was considered a game until the end. The Penn State Nittany Lions and the Kentucky Wildcats went to head-to-head for the VRBO Citrus Bowl title. Coach Mark Stoops has led the Wildcats to a 9-3 record and finished in the SEC East. While Coach James Franklin led the Nittany Lions to a 9-3 record as well but finished 3rd in the Big Ten East. While both teams are similar in some ways, their offense is different from each other. Kentucky all year has depended on the run game featuring Running Back #26 Benny Snell Jr who is 2nd in the SEC in rushing yards in the season. While the Nittany Lions are big on Quarterback play featuring #9 Trace McSorley. McSorley is 8th in passing yards and 3rd in rushing TDs in the Big Ten. Kentucky took this game from Penn State although the Nittany Lions showed some fight toward the end being down as much as 20 and losing by just 3, 27-24. Benny Snell Jr was yet again a star today as he went off for 26 carries for 144 yards and 2 TDs. While he was busting holes in the Penn State defense Outside Linebacker Josh Allen had a big day as well. He finished with 4 tackles and 3 of them included a sack. Both of these players played in their last game as a Kentucky Wildcat as they are entering the NFL Draft. Penn State’s #9 Trace McSorley kept them in the game as they were down by 20 points at the beginning of the 4th Quarter but 2 quick TDs (1 rushing and 1 passing) helped bring it to just 6 points with still 9 minutes in the game. Unfortunately, Trace McSorley couldn’t score after stopping Kentucky’s next drive as they managed to kick a field goal to bring it to 3. Kentucky ends the game to hold onto that lead and make it a victory for the ages.