History was made in Happy Valley on Saturday, as Penn State won in Round One of the College Football Playoffs (CFP).\u00a0 The win allows the Nittany Lions to advance to the quarterfinals.\u00a0 It was the first playoff game<\/a> in Beaver Stadium history (and the second home playoff game of all time).\u00a0 The weather was cold, and the wind was blowing, but the crowd brought White Out energy.\u00a0 The Nittany Lions wore their Generations of Greatness uniforms.\u00a0 The historical significance of College Football Playoff (CFP) Round One in Happy Valley was clearly there.\u00a0 Linebacker U came back with a vengeance, and James Franklin won a big game.\u00a0 Penn State defeated SMU by a score of 38-10 and advanced to the quarterfinals to face Boise State at the Fiesta Bowl.<\/p>\n Some of the elements that come with winter in Pennsylvania certainly affected this game.\u00a0 The temperature was 25 degrees, with a wind chill of 10 degrees and winds gusting to 35 miles per hour.\u00a0 Consequently, punts and kickoffs were shanked and kicked out of bounds.\u00a0 Additionally, the offenses struggled early, with Penn State scoring the game’s first offensive touchdown with five minutes left in the second quarter.\u00a0 Despite the 28-point score differential, time of possession was split about evenly (31 minutes to 29 in favor of Penn State).\u00a0 With the game in hand in the fourth quarter, and Penn State backup quarterback Beau Pribula<\/a> leaving the team as he entered the transfer portal<\/a>, true freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer<\/a> saw his first-ever game action.\u00a0 On so many levels, this was not a normal game.<\/p>\n Penn State and SMU battled in the first playoff game ever at Beaver Stadium.\u00a0 Penn State emerged victorious, by a score of 38-10.\u00a0 The Nittany Lions advance to the quarterfinals and will face Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl.<\/p>\n The Penn State offense has deservedly garnered a lot of attention and fanfare.\u00a0 They ranked #15 in the nation in yards per game entering the playoffs.\u00a0 After a sluggish start, the running game in particular made their presence felt.\u00a0 However, as Bear Bryant once said “Offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships.”\u00a0 Coordinator Tom Allen and his defense were up to the task today.\u00a0 As Franklin said after the game, “Our defense played lights out.”<\/p>\n SMU was ranked #20 nationally in offensive yards per game.\u00a0 Go figure, the first two scores of the game were pick-sixes by Penn State linebackers.\u00a0 Linebacker U was called into question<\/a> this year.\u00a0 However, linebackers Dom Deluca<\/a> and Tony Rojas<\/a> each returned an interception for touchdowns to put Penn State up 14-0.\u00a0 Fittingly, Deluca (a former walk-on) added a second interception in the first half (not returned for a touchdown).\u00a0 The defense teed off in the second half as SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings<\/a> was constantly under pressure and got up hobbling on numerous occasions.\u00a0 First-team FWAA All-American\u00a0 Abdul Carter<\/a> was a force, adding a huge third-quarter sack on third and goal, forcing an SMU field goal attempt that was missed.\u00a0 SMU’s first touchdown came halfway through the fourth quarter when the game had already been decided.<\/p>\n SMU’s defense kept the Mustangs in the game for most of the first half.\u00a0 The defense did not give up a score until the final five minutes of the first half.\u00a0 SMU entered the game as the nation’s fifth-best rushing defense at 93 yards per game.\u00a0 When Penn State took the lead, it was clear the Nittany Lions were going to run.\u00a0 Penn State still finished with 189 rushing yards and three touchdowns.\u00a0 This is encouraging for Penn State for future rounds of the CFP.<\/p>\n Throughout his mostly successful tenure at Penn State, James Franklin’s teams have performed “as expected.”\u00a0 They have won the games they were supposed to win.\u00a0 Similarly, his teams have mostly lost the games they were supposed to lose.\u00a0 Penn State came in as the higher seed, at home in the playoffs.\u00a0 The Nittany Lions were expected to win this game.<\/p>\n Franklin’s teams have also struggled mightily in winning big games.\u00a0 For instance, entering the CFP his record against Top 10 teams was 3-19.\u00a0 SMU, though seeded #11 in the CFP, was ranked #10.\u00a0 Based on that, Penn State could have been at a disadvantage, despite being expected to win.\u00a0 Expected to win in one regard (favored at home), and expected to lose in another regard (3-19 against Top 10 teams), something had to give in this game.\u00a0 In the words of the immortal George Costanza, “This is not good!\u00a0 Worlds are colliding!”<\/p>\n Penn State came out on top in Round One, with a statement playoff victory.\u00a0 Franklin also earned his 100th win as Penn State head coach.\u00a0 \u00a0 However, there were some head-scratching calls by Franklin and the coaching staff that could have turned the tide in SMU’s favor.\u00a0 The most glaring call was going for it on fourth and one deep in their own territory in the first half.\u00a0 They did not pick up the first down.\u00a0 However, Deluca picked them up with his second interception.\u00a0 The quarterfinal game against Boise State will be the next big game test for Franklin and Penn State.<\/p>\n Passing:\u00a0<\/strong>Penn State threw for 136 yards, compared to 195 for SMU.\u00a0 Drew Allar<\/a> completed 13 of 22 for 127 yards, with no touchdowns or interceptions.\u00a0 Grunkemeyer completed one of two passes for nine yards, with no touchdowns and an interception.\u00a0 Tyler Warren<\/a> did not complete his only pass attempt.\u00a0 For SMU, Jennings completed 20 of 36 for 195 yards, with one touchdown and three interceptions.\u00a0 Keldric Luster<\/a> did not complete his only pass attempt.<\/p>\n Rushing:\u00a0<\/strong>Penn State had 189 yards, compared to 57 yards for SMU.\u00a0 Nick Singleton<\/a> led Penn State, and all players, with 90 rushing yards on 14 carries, and one touchdown.\u00a0 Kaytron Allen<\/a> added 70 yards on 11 carries, adding two touchdowns.\u00a0 SMU was led by Brashard Smith<\/a>, who had 62 yards on 18 carries.\u00a0 LJ Johnson Jr.<\/a> rushed six times, gaining 26 yards.<\/p>\n Receiving: <\/strong>Harrison Wallace III<\/a> led Penn State with 48 yards on four catches.\u00a0 Warren added four receptions for 33 yards.\u00a0 For SMU, Roderick Daniels Jr<\/a> led the team with a game-high 64 yards on four receptions with one touchdown.\u00a0 Jordan Hudson had four catches for 40 yards.<\/p>\n Defense:\u00a0<\/strong>Kobe King<\/a> had six tackles to lead Penn State.\u00a0 Dani Dennis-Sutton<\/a> led the Nittany Lions with a sack and a half.\u00a0 Carter and Coziah Izzard<\/a> had one sack each, and Deluca added a half-sack.\u00a0 \u00a0Additionally, Deluca had two interceptions while Rojas added one.\u00a0 Ahmad Walker<\/a> led SMU with a game-high seven tackles, while Elijah Roberts<\/a> had two sacks, and Jahfari Harvey<\/a> and Jared Harrison-Hunte<\/a> split a sack.\u00a0 SMU’s interception was by Brandon Crossley<\/a>.<\/p>\n Special Teams:\u00a0<\/strong>For Penn State, Ryan Barker<\/a> converted his only field goal attempt.\u00a0 He converted all five of his extra-point attempts.\u00a0 Riley Thompson<\/a> punted three times, averaging 36.0 yards per punt.\u00a0 For SMU, Collin Rogers<\/a> converted one of two field goal attempts, as well as his only extra-point try.\u00a0 Isaac Pearson<\/a> punted five times, averaging 36.6 yards per punt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" History was made in Happy Valley on Saturday, as Penn State won in Round One of the College Football Playoffs (CFP).\u00a0 The win allows the Nittany Lions to advance to the quarterfinals.\u00a0 It was the first playoff game in Beaver Stadium history (and the second home playoff game of all time).\u00a0 The weather was cold, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5172,"featured_media":70728,"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":[7,5,10906,35610],"tags":[34494,4590,1306,837,4223,309,33752,1073],"class_list":["post-70713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-acc","category-bigten","category-cfb","category-penn-state-nittany-lions","tag-2024-college-football-playoff","tag-boise-state","tag-fiesta-bowl","tag-james-franklin","tag-linebacker-u","tag-penn-state-nittany-lions","tag-smu","tag-tom-allen"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, 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Takeaways: Penn State Wins to Advance to CFP Quarterfinals<\/h2>\n
Defense Wins Championships<\/h3>\n
Franklin Holds Serve<\/h3>\n
By the Numbers: Penn State Wins to Advance to CFP Quarterfinals<\/h3>\n
Offense<\/h3>\n
Defense\/Special Teams<\/h3>\n