Penn State Dominates SMU in CFP Opener: Defense Shines as Nittany Lions Cruise to 38-10 Victory
Another day, another blowout in the 1st round of the College Football Playoff. James Franklin gets the “big game loser” monkey off his back, as the 6th seeded Penn State Nittany Lions handled business against the 10th seeded Southern Methodist Mustangs, cruising to a 38-10 victory in University Park. The game got out of hand quickly for SMU, as sophomore QB Kevin Jennings threw not one, but 2 pick-6’s in the first 20 minutes of the game. Penn State had an early cushion, and used it to run time off the clock, both figuratively and literally, as the Nittany Lions were just the 4th team in CFP history to win a game without a passing touchdown. Junior RB Kaytron Allen had the longest rush of the day, a 25 yard TD rush to make the score 21-0 at the 5:00 mark in the 2nd quarter. Allen found the end zone once more in the 3rd quarter, tacking on 98 total yards–70 on the ground, 28 through the air. Junior RB Nicholas Singleton led the way in rushing yards, rumbling for 90 yards and 1 touchdown. However, the story of the game was the Penn State defense. Former walk-on linebacker Dominic DeLuca had 2 of the team’s 3 interceptions, returning the first for a 23 yard touchdown. Fellow LB Tony Rojas had a pick-6 of his own, and the unit as a whole held SMU to just 3-of-14 on 3rd down and recorded 3 sacks.
With as much talk of who rightfully deserved the at-large bids for the first 12 team College Football Playoff, and if the Mustangs earned and deserved a spot, SMU certainly didn’t do anything to stymy those talks. This game was over in the 2nd quarter. Perhaps earlier. Kevin Jennings didn’t start hot, and never really turned the burner on, as we became familiar with in the regular season. He looked completely overmatched. A 4th quarter touchdown makes his statline look slightly better, but he dug SMU’s hole, too deep to dig back out of. On the flip side, Penn State looked great. The defense was phenomenal on all 3 levels. SMU only totaled 257 yards of offense, just 58 of those yards coming on the ground. 3 interceptions will obviously help, but when you’re not getting anything going on the ground, it makes it a whole lot easier to win a game. The offense just had to stay afloat, and they’d cruise to an easy victory. The offense did just that, and the Nittany Lions had their feet up by halftime. This is the second consecutive game where Penn State has scored 35 or more points, as they put up 37 in a 45-37 loss to the Oregon Ducks in the Big 10 title game. If the defense can be even 70% as good as they were today, Penn State could make some noise in the upcoming rounds.
Looking to the future, Allar and Penn State move on to the 2nd round of the playoffs and will play the Heisman trophy runner-up, Ashton Jeanty, and the Boise State Broncos in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Eve. Penn State currently opens as a 10 point betting favorite against the 3 seeded Broncos. The winner of that game will play either the 7th seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish or the 2nd seed Georgia Bulldogs. The Bulldogs could be without starting QB Carson Beck in that game, as well. The path isn’t going to be easy, but for James Franklin and the Nittany Lions, you’re starting to see the light glinting off the College Football Playoff trophy in the distance.
Dylan Barnas
DiSportsPhotoAgency
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