Penn State vs. Georgia in TaxSlayer Bowl Jan. 2

UNIVERSITY PARK – Penn State returns to a Florida bowl for the first time since the 2010 season when the Nittany Lions (7-5) take on Southeastern Conference foe Georgia (9-3) in the 71st annual TaxSlayer Bowl on Saturday, January 2 at noon. The game will air on ESPN. The Nittany Lions last played in a Florida bowl in the 2011 Outback Bowl.

The Nittany Lions and the Bulldogs were selected today for just their second all-time meeting and the 46th all-time bowl appearance for Penn State. The only other meeting between the teams came in the 1983 Sugar Bowl when the Nittany Lions claimed a 27-23 win over Georgia to claim their first National Championship. That game featured “The Catch,” a 48-yard diving touchdown reception by wide receiver Gregg Garrity from Todd Blackledge to give the Lions a 27-17 lead.

This will be Penn State’s fifth appearance in the TaxSlayer Bowl, formerly the Gator Bowl, with the last time coming in 1976 when the Nittany Lions fell to Notre Dame, 20-9. Penn State is 1-2-1 all-time in the Gator Bowl. The Lions made back-to-back Gator Bowl appearances in 1961 with a win over Georgia Tech (30-15) and in 1962 with a loss to Florida (17-7). Penn State also tied Florida State (17-17) in the 1967 Gator Bowl.

Penn State is tied for third nationally with 28 bowl victories and is No. 2 in bowl winning percentage with a 28-15-2 post-season record (64.4) among schools with at least 20 postseason appearances.

Coach James Franklin guided the Nittany Lions to a 7-5 regular season record to become bowl eligible for the second consecutive season and 46th time overall. Penn State started 7-2 but went 0-for-November to finish with the 7-5 mark. The Nittany Lions’ mentor has guided all five of his teams as a head coach to a bowl appearance.

Georgia is 9-3 overall with a 5-3 mark in SEC play. The Bulldogs have SEC wins over Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Missouri, Kentucky and Auburn. They finished the regular season with a 13-7 win over in-state rival Georgia Tech. Assistant head coach/wide receivers coach Bryan McClendon will serve as Georgia’s interim head coach for the bowl game.

Penn State defensive end Carl Nassib (West Chester, Pa.) leads the nation in sacks and forced fumbles and earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year accolades to lead the list of 10 Penn Staters who earned All-Big Ten recognition. Nassib is also a finalist for six national awards.

Freshman running back Saquon Barkley (Coplay, Pa.) was named to the All-Big Ten second team by the coaches and media after breaking the Penn State freshman season rushing record with 1,007 yards, surpassing the mark of 1,002 set by D.J. Dozier in 1983. Barkley was selected BTN.com’s conference Freshman of the Year. Sophomore wide receiver Chris Godwin (Middletown, Del.) was selected to the All-Big Ten second team by the media and the third team by the coaches. He ranks 30th in FBS and second in the Big Ten with 968 receiving yards. Godwin is also tied for fifth in the conference in receptions per game (5.3).

Junior quarterback Christian Hackenberg (Palmyra, Va.) has started all 37 games of his career under center. He ranks first in Penn State history in career 300-yard passing games (9), 200-yard passing games (21), passing yards (8,318), touchdowns (48), attempts (1,221), completions (685) and total offense (8,072). Hackenberg is the only quarterback in program history with 8,000 yards passing and three 2,000-yard passing seasons.

Penn State is 23-21-0 all-time against current SEC schools, having played every SEC team except Arkansas, Mississippi and Mississippi State. The most recent meeting with an SEC team was versus Alabama in 2011 in Beaver Stadium.

The Nittany Lions vs. SEC teams overall: Alabama (5-10), Auburn (1-1), Florida (0-3), Georgia (1-0), Kentucky (3-2), LSU (2-0), Missouri (3-1), South Carolina (2-0), Tennessee (3-2), Texas A&M (3-1) and Vanderbilt (0-1).

The Nittany Lions are 12-6-0 vs. SEC teams in bowl games, with the most recent meeting resulting a 37-24 loss to Florida in the 2011 Outback Bowl. Penn State has faced Alabama (1-2), Auburn (1-1), Florida (0-3), Georgia (1-0), Kentucky (1-0), LSU (2-0), Missouri (1-0), Tennessee (3-0) and Texas A&M (2-0) in post-season contests.