{"id":70904,"date":"2024-12-30T15:00:04","date_gmt":"2024-12-30T20:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=70904"},"modified":"2025-09-20T14:33:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T18:33:08","slug":"penn-state-faces-boise-state-in-cfp-quarterfinals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2024\/12\/30\/penn-state-faces-boise-state-in-cfp-quarterfinals\/","title":{"rendered":"Penn State Faces Boise State in CFP Quarterfinals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sixth-seed (fourth-ranked) Penn State faces 3rd-seed\u00a0(9th<\/sup>-ranked) Boise State in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoffs (CFP).\u00a0 The game will take place at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl.\u00a0 It follows Penn State\u2019s first-round historic win<\/a> over SMU.\u00a0 Boise State will make its CFP debut after a first-round bye.<\/p>\n

Penn State is riding the momentum of winning the first-ever playoff game at Beaver Stadium.\u00a0 As games move to neutral sites, if there is any bowl where the Nittany Lions would feel at home, the Fiesta Bowl is it.\u00a0 This will be Penn State\u2019s eighth appearance in the Fiesta Bowl, coming in with a record of 7-0.\u00a0 Penn State clinched the 1986 National Championship there.\u00a0 Boise State is also undefeated at the Fiesta Bowl, coming in with a record of 3-0, highlighted by the Broncos win over Oklahoma in 2006 to finish a 13-0 season.\u00a0 The Broncos are the last non-Power Five conference team to win the Fiesta.\u00a0 No matter who wins this game, history will be made in Glendale, Arizona on New Year\u2019s Eve.<\/p>\n

If Penn State\u2019s round one victory over SMU is any indication, this quarterfinal will be played and coached very aggressively.\u00a0 Penn State head coach James Franklin alluded to this in his Monday press conference.\u00a0 He talked about the \u201cchess match\u201d between the coaching staff to maximize the impact of each team\u2019s star players, who are consequently the key players to watch for this game.<\/p>\n

#6 Penn State (12-2) Takes on #3 Boise State (12-1): CFP Quarterfinals<\/strong><\/h2>\n

When & Where: <\/strong>Tuesday, December 31st<\/sup>, 7:30 pm ET, at Glendale, Arizona (State Farm Stadium)<\/p>\n

Last Game\u2019s Results: <\/strong>Penn State defeated SMU 38-10 at home in the first round of the CFP.\u00a0 Boise State was last in action at home in the Mountain West Conference championship game.\u00a0 The Broncos defeated #19 UNLV by the score of 21-7.<\/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 Boise State finished with a record of 8-6, in a season that ended with a Mountain West Conference championship, but a 35-22 loss to UCLA in the LA Bowl.<\/p>\n

Series History: <\/strong>The CFP Quarterfinals will be the first time Penn State and Boise State face off.<\/p>\n

Penn State vs. Boise State Preview: Key Players to Watch<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Penn State Defensive End Abdul Carter <\/strong><\/h3>\n

When analyzing the Penn State defense, it is obvious that defensive end Abdul Carter<\/a> is one of the most talented players on the field.\u00a0 In fact, recently he has clearly been the best player on the field.<\/p>\n

This season is Carter\u2019s first at defensive end, following a move from linebacker. \u00a0As a leader of the defense, he retained the highly coveted and respected uniform number 11. Carter\u2019s year started rocky, failing to make as much of an impact as expected early in the season.\u00a0 However, through the year, quiet games became impact games.\u00a0 Penalties against Carter became penalties drawn by quarter.\u00a0 He finished 2024 as the Big Ten conference leader in tackles for loss by a longshot and enters this game with 21.5.\u00a0 This is a nod to the impact Carter has had on the running game.\u00a0 He has also produced 11 sacks on the season, an ode to his obvious impact on the passing game as well.<\/p>\n

Carter can impact both the opponent\u2019s rushing attack and passing game.\u00a0 Additionally, he is a focal point for the other team\u2019s offensive coaches to gameplan around.\u00a0 His ability to affect the game directly and open up lanes for teammates to have their own impact makes Carter a player to watch in the CFP quarterfinals.<\/p>\n

Boise State Running Back Ashton Jeanty<\/strong><\/h3>\n

There are few players in college football as electrifying as Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty<\/a>.\u00a0 To call Jeanty an anomaly is an understatement.\u00a0 He is a combination of speed, power, and strong running and pass-catching ability.\u00a0 Jeanty was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy this year and would have won it in most other years.\u00a0 As Franklin commented about Boise State\u2019s offense, \u201cIt all starts and revolves around Jeanty.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statistics that Jeanty put together this season are off the charts.\u00a0 He has led the nation by running for 2,497 yards (and tied for the lead with 29 touchdowns).\u00a0 Omarion Hampton of UNC, who will be competing in the Fenway Bowl, was second with 1,660 yards.\u00a0 Perhaps more impressive, Jeanty has about 1,300 yards after contact.\u00a0 Franklin called it a ridiculous stat and noted that Jeanty has \u201cMore yards after contact than most of the elite running backs in college football have in general.\u201d\u00a0 This is in stark contrast to the two-headed running back monster that Penn State boasts with Nick Singleton<\/a> and Kaytron Allen<\/a>.\u00a0 Jeanty also gets involved in the passing game, with 20 receptions and a touchdown.<\/p>\n

Boise State\u2019s offense goes through Jeanty.\u00a0 Everyone knows that, but no one has been able to stop it, as his yards after contact attest to.\u00a0 He has had 30 or more carries in seven of his last eight games.\u00a0 Franklin said on Monday \u201cHe\u2019s a beast in terms of his production on the field, and his durability.\u201d\u00a0 Jeanty\u2019s ability to continue to carry the load for the Boise State offense, against a tough Penn State defense, makes him a player to watch in the CFP quarterfinals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sixth-seed (fourth-ranked) Penn State faces 3rd-seed\u00a0(9th-ranked) Boise State in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoffs (CFP).\u00a0 The game will take place at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl.\u00a0 It follows Penn State\u2019s first-round historic win over SMU.\u00a0 Boise State will make its CFP debut after a first-round bye. Penn State is riding the momentum of winning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5172,"featured_media":70991,"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":[5,7361,10906,2,13,35610],"tags":[34494,7983,91,1306,895,837,898,309],"class_list":["post-70904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bigten","category-bowl-games","category-cfb","category-featured","category-mountainwest","category-penn-state-nittany-lions","tag-2024-college-football-playoff","tag-big-ten-football","tag-boise-state-broncos","tag-fiesta-bowl","tag-heisman-trophy","tag-james-franklin","tag-mountain-west","tag-penn-state-nittany-lions"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70904","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=70904"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70995,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70904\/revisions\/70995"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}