The Penn State Nittany Lions will take on a 9-3 Georgia Bulldogs team that finished third in the SEC East with losses against the Alabama Crimson Tide, Tennessee Volunteers and the Florida Gators.
It will be the second consecutive season the Nittany Lions will be going to a bowl game after being illegible for postseason play due to the Jerry Sandusky sex-abuse case for the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
Penn State has had an up-and-down season this year. After being upset by the Temple Owls in the season opener, the Nittany Lions won five consecutive games before dropping four of their last six, which included losses against Ohio State, Northwestern, Michigan and Michigan State.
The Nittany Lions have been led this season by freshman sensation Saquon Barkley who rushed for 1,007 yards and seven touchdowns this season on 165 carries. The Pennsylvania native rushed for 100+ yards against four Big Ten opponents, including games against Ohio State, Northwestern and Michigan State.
He rushed for 195 yards against Rutgers before almost surpassing that total with 194 yards against the Ohio State Buckeyes.
There will be plenty of storylines surrounding the TaxSlayer Bowl, as Georgia will be moving on from Mark Richt while Penn State moves on from offensive coordinator James Donovan. Another major storyline for Penn State will be that quarterback Christian Hackenberg could be playing his last game as a Nittany Lion.
The junior quarterback is statistically the greatest Penn State quarterback of all time. This past season, he set the Penn State career record for touchdowns and passing yards.
On a conference call after the bowl games were announced, Penn State head coach James Franklin told the media that Ricky Rahne will be calling the plays for the Nittany Lions at the bowl game. He also said that the new offensive coordinator will be evaluating and preparing for next season during the bowl period.