(Photo courtest of Penn State Football/Athletics)
In a very frigid Beaver Stadium, 6th seed Penn State rolled over 11th seed SMU in the opening round of the College Football Playoff 38-10. Penn State will advance to the College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl against 3rd seed Boise State.
Penn State took advantage of multiple mistakes from SMU QB Kevin Jennings to jump to an early 14-0 lead. Pick 6's from Dominic Deluca and Tony Rojas in the 1st quarter helped Penn State jump to an early lead and they never turned back.
It was clear that the weather and the Penn State crowd played a big part in this game. With the kickoff temperature around 26 degrees and a wind chill that made it feel like it was in the teens and a Penn State crowd that forced SMU to take two early timeouts were huge in both the interceptions for Jennings.
Heading into the game, Penn State needed to establish a run game that would take pressure off of Drew Allar. Heading into Saturday's matchup, SMU had the 5th rushing defense in the country and was allowing 93.4 rushing yards per game.
The Penn State rushing attack of Nicholas SIngleton and Kaytron Allen each had stellar games. Singleton rushed for 90 yards and one touchdown, while Allen rushed for 70 yards and two touchdowns. Penn State's 189 rushing yards were the 4th most SMU has given up in a game this season.
The Penn State rush was the key to their success on offense. QB Drew Allar had a quiet game going 13/22 with 127 yards and no touchdowns. Some questioned what the offense would look like with Beau Pribula not playing due to him entering the transfer portal. With the strong rush game, it took big pressure off of Allar who struggled with the weather early in the game.
Dominic DeLuca added a 2nd interception in the 2nd quarter in the SMU redzone. Unfortunately he was not able to add another 6 points, but Penn State was able to drive down the field and score a touchdown off the turnover. Penn State capitalized with 21 points off turnovers.
The defense recorded multiple 4th down stops as well as 3 sacks and 11 tackles for loss. Since October 5th, this was SMU's worst passing and rushing game. Holding SMU to 195 yards receiving and rushing.
Even with the early deficit similar to the ACC Championship Game, SMU was never able to move the ball successfully. The 106,000 crowd at Beaver Stadium made it a very hostile environment for SMU. Jennings on multiple occasions was having trouble hearing the play call through his helmet.
With the win, this makes 100 wins for James Franklin as the head coach of Penn State.
Penn State will now prepare for a New Year's Eve matchup with Boise State. This will mark their 2nd appearance in the Fiesta Bowl under James Franklin. Kickoff is set for 7:30pm EST.
-Adam Mack (@AdamMack8727)
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