Last Game\u2019s Results: <\/strong>Both Penn State and SMU lost in their conference title games.\u00a0 Penn State fell to Oregon by a score of 45-37.\u00a0 SMU was defeated by Clemson 34-31.<\/p>\n Last Season\u2019s Results: <\/strong>Penn State finished ranked #13 after a 10-3 season that ended with a Peach Bowl loss to Ole Miss.\u00a0 SMU finished ranked #24 with a record of 11-3, including a loss to Boston College in the Fenway Bowl after defeating Tulane in the American Athletic Championship Game.<\/p>\n Series History: <\/strong>CFP Round One is the third time these programs will face off.\u00a0 The first matchup was on New Year\u2019s Day in 1948 and finished in a 13-13 tie in the Cotton Bowl.\u00a0 The Nittany Lions won the last matchup, 26-21 in 1978.<\/p>\n There are a lot of similarities between these two teams.\u00a0 Head coach James Franklin and the Nittany Lions get right back on the horse (no pun intended) taking on the SMU Mustangs.\u00a0 After losing the Big Ten Championship 45-37 to Oregon<\/a>, Penn State has a record of 11-2 on the season.\u00a0 The losses were at the hands of #1 Oregon and eighth-seeded (sixth-ranked) Ohio State<\/a>.\u00a0 However, a nagging narrative still exists.\u00a0 Can Franklin, quarterback Drew Allar<\/a>, and the Nittany Lions win a big game against the best competition?\u00a0 Penn State is expected to win this game, so a win here won\u2019t totally silence those criticisms.\u00a0 However, a win might quiet the comments a bit.<\/p>\n Similar to Penn State\u2019s plight, SMU comes into round one as the runner-up from the ACC. The Mustangs were defeated by the Clemson Tigers by the score of 34-31 on a last-second field goal in the ACC Championship Game.\u00a0 That loss should not take away from the surprisingly successful season that SMU has enjoyed.\u00a0 Picked to finish seventh in preseason polls, head coach Rhett Lashlee pushed a lot of the right buttons to deliver an 11-2 season.<\/p>\n Both teams are disappointed in not winning their conferences; however, there is a lot to look forward to as well.\u00a0 In the immediate future, that means competing in round one of CFP.\u00a0 Awaiting the winner of this game is Boise State in the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n One of the strengths of the Penn State defense has been the secondary.\u00a0 Tom Allen replaced Manny Diaz as the defensive coordinator this season.\u00a0 He quickly identified the secondary as a strength and leader of the defense.<\/p>\n Jaylen Reed<\/a> was going to team with KJ Winston<\/a> in one of the strongest safety rooms in the country.\u00a0 However, a long-term injury suffered by Winston<\/a> earlier this year represented an unexpected bump in the road.\u00a0 Reed has stepped up and become an unquestioned leader on the team.<\/p>\n In Allen\u2019s hybrid 4-2-5 defensive scheme, Reed has filled a hybrid role.\u00a0 That role has included assignments as a safety, as well as linebacker.\u00a0 He has responded well to the opportunities.\u00a0 Reed was named second-team All-Big Ten by both the coaches and media. Reed\u2019s 75 tackles lead the team, and he also has three interceptions this season.<\/p>\n Facing a strong SMU offense, Reed will need to continue to lead and perform at a high level.\u00a0 He can provide solid coverage in the passing game.\u00a0 Additionally, Reed provides solid support against the run.\u00a0 This will open opportunities for teammates like star defensive end Abdul Carter<\/a> to impact the game.\u00a0 For that reason, Reed is a key player to watch in this game.<\/p>\n Earlier this season, Lashlee doubled down on the multifaceted skills of quarterback Kevin Jennings<\/a>.\u00a0 This has obviously paid off with SMU appearing in the CFP.\u00a0 With a record of 2-1 despite up-and-down quarterback play, Lashlee announced that Jennings was taking over for Preston Stone<\/a>.\u00a0 The Mustangs have not looked back.<\/p>\n Jennings can extend plays with his improvisational skills.\u00a0 Despite not starting the season as the undisputed starter, Jennings ranks 18th<\/sup> in the country in passing yards with 3,050.\u00a0 His passing efficiency of 156.92 is good for 13th<\/sup>.\u00a0 Jennings has paired 22 passing touchdowns with only eight interceptions.<\/p>\n In addition to his prowess throwing the ball, Jennings has been a threat running the football.\u00a0 His 93 carries rank second on the team, and he is tied for second on the team with five rushing touchdowns.\u00a0 The dual threat presented by Jennings will give Allen another component to game plan for.\u00a0 His ability to extend plays and make plays running the ball will be important against Penn State.\u00a0 That makes Jennings a player to watch in this game.<\/p>\n Sixth-seeded (fourth-ranked) Penn State hosts 11th-seeded (10th-ranked) SMU in the College Football Playoffs (CFP) Round One.\u00a0 This game will be the first playoff game at Beaver Stadium.\u00a0 Fittingly, it will be a White Out.\u00a0 The environment will be fitting for a playoff game at home in Happy Valley. When & Where: Saturday, December 21st, Noon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5172,"featured_media":70110,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,5,2,35610],"tags":[34494,79,837,309,648,590,1073],"class_list":["post-69997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-acc","category-bigten","category-featured","category-penn-state-nittany-lions","tag-2024-college-football-playoff","tag-college-football","tag-james-franklin","tag-penn-state-nittany-lions","tag-rhett-lashlee","tag-smu-mustangs","tag-tom-allen"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5172"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69997"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70416,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69997\/revisions\/70416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}#6 Penn State (11-2) Hosts #11 SMU (11-2): CFP Round One<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Key Players to Watch<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Penn State Defensive Back Jaylen Reed<\/strong><\/h3>\n
SMU Quarterback Kevin Jennings<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/12\/USATSI_24725889_168400562_lowres-300x195.jpg\")