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Penn State Blows Through SMU, Moves on to Boise State

Tagged under: Gameday Hub, News, Penn State, Pennsylvania Colleges, pfn, Playoffs

| December 21, 2024

Back in August, during my season preview of Penn State, I mentioned that this was a perfect storm for Penn State to make their first College Football Playoff game. As we fast forward to year’s end, Penn State used that perfect culmination of advantages and landed a home Playoff game against SMU.

The Mustangs of SMU, in their first year in the ACC, made the conference championship game and the Playoff. They were the topic of discussion on Selection Sunday. In the last available spot, it was either SMU or Alabama, and SMU got the nod. Many fans and media alike disagreed with the decision and felt the Crimson Tide was more deserving. But, in the end, SMU was in and had the daunting task of traveling to Beaver Stadium to take on Penn State, in a whiteout.

Although the weather was sub-freezing, with a bone-chilling wind factor, the Penn State crowd was as advertised, and then some.

Early in the game, however, they did not have much to cheer for. Penn State went three-and-out on the opening drive. After a couple of back-and-forth drives both squads saw a scoreless first 8-minutes, until Dominic DeLuca showed up. SMU QB Kevin Jennings, one of the best QBs in the ACC, threw it right to DeLuca and he did the rest for the first TD of the game. DeLuca, the Wyoming Area Alum, was a walk-on at Penn State and made the play of his career, But he wasn’t finished. Before the first half, DeLuca would pick Jennings off for a 2nd time, making it a first half to remember and then some.


DeLuca’s heroics were special, but Tony Rojas’s pick-six was another tone-setter. Jennings gave Penn State another gift, and they took the early Christmas present and ran with it (to the endzone).

Those 2 scores overshadowed the lackluster offensive performance displayed by Penn State in the first few minutes. For the most part, the PSU offense was dormant, until they weren’t. The PSU pair in the backfield, Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen both were able to get in for scores to give Penn State a 28-0 lead at the half.

In the 2nd half, Penn State and Allen would get in the endzone again to make the lead insurmountable.

The rest of the game would be a telltale sign of the future of Penn State. With Beau Pribula gone, backup QB Luke Grunkemeyer got some late-game action. On his first throw, he threw an interception. We will see if Penn State has to utilize Grunkemeyer in the rest of the playoffs.

One of the small victories in this game was PSU’s dominance without overkilling Tyler Warren. He had just 4 catches in this game, and the Penn State offense still was able to score points. They also kept the trick plays to a minimum, as Warren only had 1 carry and 1 pass attempt. Penn State will need to stay fundamental against tougher opponents in the quarterfinal and onward. The Defense suffocated Kevin Jennings to the tune of 3 first-half interceptions. Abdul Carter among others was making Jennings’s stay at State College unforgettable for all the wrong reasons. With the win, Penn State will meet Boise State and Ashton Jeanty in the Quarterfinals on December 31st in the Fiesta Bowl.

 

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