The Night Before Gameday: Penn State Looks to Outlast Boise State in Western Duel

Tagged under: News, Penn State, Pennsylvania Colleges

Mason Eddinger | December 30, 2024

Penn State has seen a lot throughout the first 365 days of the year, but the 366th day will be the most important. Once again, College Football has scattered marquee matchups around the New Year. Penn State and Boise State get the honor of participating in the first of those four on December 31st in the Fiesta Bowl.

  How does Penn State win this game? 

Ashton Jeanty has been one of the best RBs in recent College Football memory and he is Boise State’s biggest focus. Jeanty has surpassed the 2000-yard mark and is looking to dethrone Barry Sanders for the all-time rushing yards in a single season. Common sense would lead one to believe that Penn State should sell out to stop Jeanty at all costs, but it may not be in Penn State’s best interest. Boise State QB Maddux Madsen has had an efficient season, with 22TDs and 3 INTs. With Penn State being the 7th best run defense in the nation, they should not consider Jeanty to be the only weapon on offense. Now, I still feel Penn State should load the box on every occasion, but they still have to respect the passing game of Boise State. Regarding Jeanty, the Penn State defense magic number to hold Jeanty is 150. Initially, that may seem wild to set a rush defense goal at 150, but it is certainly not wild when you look at Jeanty’s ridiculous body of work. Just three times this year has Jeanty gone under 150, in one of those games he only played 1 half, and in another game, he had 149 rushing yards. Penn State is not going to shut Jeanty down, but can they do enough to neutralize him enough?

Drew Allar must perform to the level he is capable of to win this game. In the win over SMU, Allar had just 127 passing yards. Albeit they were dominating the entirety of the game, Penn State would feel comfortable if Allar could eclipse 250 passing yards. That may seem high, but Boise State is 113th in the country against the pass. In that SMU win, they did not rely on Tyler Warren to the extent they had all year. In this contest, Tyler Warren expects to return to his typical volume, but there is a good chance he will open up more downfield shots with the defense hyperfocused on Warren.

When push comes to shove, I think Penn State matches up beatifully in this game. Ashton Jeanty is the best RB in the country, and Penn State counters that with a top-10 run defense. Penn State has had struggles identifying a #1 WR, Boise State has been awful against the pass. In the end, I believe Penn State advances decently and comfortably to the semi-final.

PREDICTION: PENN STATE 28 BOISE STATE 17

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