Bowl MVP Awards
Bowl/Post-Season Award Winners at Penn State—
Major Bowls/CFP Games—
Cotton Bowl (4 games/3 wins)—Steve Suhey G 1948 (Co-MVP/1st from Penn State to win a post-season MVP award), Lydell Mitchell TB 1972 (Most Outstanding Offensive Player) & Bruce Bannon DE 1972 (Most Outstanding Defensive Player), Tom Shuman QB 1975 (Most Outstanding Offensive Player), Journey Brown RB 2019 (Offensive Player of Game) & Micah Parsons LB (Defensive Player of Game)
Orange Bowl (6 games/4 wins)—Chuck Burkhart QB 1970 (Most Valuable Back) & Mike Reid DT 1970 (Most Valuable Lineman), Tom Shuman QB 1974 (Most Valuable Back) & Randy Crowder DT 1974 (Most Valuable Lineman)—Despite wins in 1969 & 2006 Orange Bowls, PSU players were not selected as MVPs (see Nittany Notes at bottom)
Rose Bowl (5 games/2 wins)—Ki-Jana Carter TB 1995 (Co-MVP), Sean Clifford QB 2023 (Offensive MVP) & Ji’Ayir Brown S 2023 (Defensive MVP)
Fiesta Bowl (8 games/8 wins)—Matt Millen DT 1977 (Most Outstanding Defensive Player), Curt Warner TB 1980 (Most Outstanding Offensive Player) & Frank Case DT 1980 (Most Outstanding Defensive Player/Sportsmanship Award), Curt Warner TB 1982 (Most Outstanding Offensive Player) & Leo Wisniewski DT 1982 (Most Outstanding Defensive Player), DJ Dozier TB 1987 (Offensive MVP) & Shane Conlan LB 1987 (Defensive MVP), OJ McDuffie SE 1992 (Offensive MVP) & Reggie Givens LB 1992 (Defensive MVP), Curtis Enis TB 1997 (Offensive Player of Game) & Brandon Noble DT 1997 (Defensive Player of Game), Trace McSorley QB 2017 (Offensive Player of Game) & Marcus Allen S 2017 (Defensive Player of Game), Tyler Warren TE 2024 (Offensive MVP) & Zakee Wheatley S 2024 (Defensive MVP)
Sugar Bowl (4 games/1 win)—Todd Blackledge QB 1983 (MVP)
Peach Bowl (1 game/0 wins)—No Penn State winners
Note: Tom Shuman QB & Curt Warner TB are only 2 to be named MVP of multiple major bowl games
LINK TO PENN STATERS IN BOWL HALLS OF FAME
Other Bowls—
Liberty Bowl (3 games/3 wins)—Jay Huffman C 1959 (Leftwich Memorial Trophy/MVP), Dick Hoak QB 1960 (Leftwich Memorial Trophy/MVP)—Despite winning 1979 Liberty Bowl, a PSU player was not named MVP (see Nittany Notes below)
Gator Bowl / TaxSlayer Bowl (5 games/1 win)—Galen Hall QB 1961 (Burkhalter Award/MVP), Dave Robinson End 1962 (Miller Award/MVP), Tom Sherman QB/K 1967 (Burkhalter Award/MVP), Jimmy Cefalo FL 1976 (Outstanding Penn State Player), Trace McSorley QB 2016 (Penn State MVP)—Gator Bowl tradition is to honor an MVP from each team
Citrus / Capital One Bowl (6 games/2 wins)—
Outback Bowl (5 games/3 wins)—
Alamo Bowl (2 games/2 wins)—Rashard Casey QB 1999 (Offensive MVP) & LaVar Arrington LB 1999 (Defensive MVP), Rodney Kinlaw TB 2007 (Offensive MVP) & Sean Lee LB 2007 (Defensive MVP)
Pinstripe Bowl (2 games/2 wins)—Christian Hackenberg QB 2014 (MVP), Trebor Pena WR 2025 (MVP)
Holiday Bowl (1 game/1 win)—Blair Thomas TB 1989 (Co-Player of the Game)
Aloha Bowl (1 game/1 win)—George Reynolds P 1983 (Outstanding Defensive Player)
Post-Season All-Star/Showcase Bowl Award Winners—
Senior Bowl MVPs from PSU (game dates to 1950/Penn Staters first played in 1953)—Blair Thomas TB 1990, Larry Johnson TB 2003, & Tony Hunt TB 2007
Senior Bowl Hall of Famers from PSU—Franco Harris FB (played in 1972 game) elected in 1992, Larry Johnson TB (played in 2003 game) elected in 2010, & Tamba Hali DE (played in 2006 game) elected in 2016—Franco Harris was also elected to the Senior Bowl’s 50th Anniversary Team in 1999
East-West Shrine Bowl/Game MVPs from PSU (game dates to 1925/MVP award dates to 1945/Penn Staters first played in 1927)—Don Bailey QB (Offense MVP Jan. 1955 game), Chet Parlavecchio LB (Defense MVP 1982 game), Jim Nelson LB (Defense MVP in 1998 game), & Nick Sukay CB/S (Defense MVP in 2012 game)
East-West Shrine Bowl/Game Hall of Famer from PSU—Lenny Moore HB (played in Dec. 1955 game) elected in 2008—Lenny Moore & Jack Ham LB (played in Jan. 1971 game) were honored as members of the Shrine Bowl’s All-Century Team selected from the first 100-games played
Hula Bowl MVPs from PSU (played as a college-only all-star game from 1960-2008 & 2020-present/Penn Staters first played in 1960)—Richie Lucas QB 1960, Pete Liske QB 1964, Jack Ham LB 1971, Ron Crosby LB 1977, Leo Wisniewski DT 1982, Rogers Alexander LB 1986, & Brad Scioli DE 1999 (Note: initial version of Hula Bowl which featured Hawaiians vs. Mainlanders ran from 1947 through 1959 and featured two Penn State players, Elwood Petchel-QB & Sam Tamburo-End, in 1949)
Japan Bowl MVPs from PSU (game played from 1976 to 1993/Penn Staters first played in 1976)—Jimmy Cefalo FL 1978, Scott Fitzkee SE 1979, & Leo Wisniewski DT 1982
Note: Leo Wisniewski is the lone Penn Stater to win MVP honors at 2 all-star bowls (Hula & Japan in 1982)—was also 1982 Fiesta Bowl Most Outstanding Defensive Player
NFLPA Collegiate Bowl MVP from PSU (game played from 2012 to 2023/Penn Staters first played in 2012)—Troy Apke S 2018
Nittany Notes:
Many bowl games share or split the MVP honors among multiple players on both teams regardless of the outcome. There have been 3 instances in bowls involving PSU, however, where the game MVP honors only went to a player on the losing team, and a Penn State player would have been the better, more logical choice in the end.
1969 Orange Bowl vs. Kansas (PSU wins 15-14)—This is the classic case of bad timing on the part of Penn State; when the late rally came after the media voters had already cast their ballots and departed the press box to get in position for post-game interviews (this means that a number of the press corps did not actually see the end of the game take place). With about 2 minutes left in the game and KU leading 14-7, it was announced in the stadium that Jayhawk halfback Donnie Shanklin had been voted MVP. If the vote had been held after the game, Bobby Campbell HB (101 yards rushing) would have won it after his stunning 47-yard pass reception on the bomb from Chuck Burkhart QB gave PSU the ball at the Kansas 3-yard line. That set up a touchdown run by Burkhart and the decision to go for the win. And, after a “12-men on the field” penalty on Kansas gave Penn State a “do-over” on the game-winning 2-point conversion try, Campbell carried the ball over the goal line for the instant victory and the first unbeaten season under Paterno.
1979 Liberty Bowl vs. Tulane (PSU wins 9-6)—It was a complete offensive snoozefest which begged the question why Tulane QB Roch Hontas deserved the MVP honors even if the Green Wave had won, or more probably, tied it. Penn State kicker Herb Menhardt managed 3 field goals including the game-winning 20-yarder with 18 seconds left that was set up on a Joel Coles halfback option pass to Tom Donovan to give the Lions the ball at the 11. Yes, Hontas passed for 210 yards in the game, but the real MVP should have been Nittany Lion defensive end, Larry Kubin, who sacked Hontas 4 times (out of 5 total PSU sacks) to keep him out of the endzone for the mild upset to cap a disappointing 8-4 season for PSU.
2006 Orange Bowl vs. Florida State (PSU wins 26-23 in 3-OT)—Florida State wide receiver Willie Reid is named MVP of this 4-hour slugfest on the strength of his 87-yard punt return for a touchdown in the 2nd quarter. Reid only had 4 catches for 55 yards in the game and, frankly, was statistically upstaged by Jordan Norwood’s 6 reception-for-110-yard performance. Receiving aside, the real MVP was likely running back Austin Scott who stepped up in place of Tony Hunt who had been injured early in the contest. Scott had his best game ever at PSU rushing 26 times for 110 yards and 2 touchdowns including a score in the 2nd OT. Kicker Kevin Kelly could have gotten some love, too, since he connected for the game-winning 29-yard field goal. But Kelly missed the potential winner in the 1st OT and one in regulation, so the MVP vote should have gone to Scott.