Both Penn State and Boise State entered the Fiesta Bowl undefeated in this particular bowl, with a combined record of 10-0.\u00a0 Penn State won the 1986 National Championship there.\u00a0 Boise State won perhaps the biggest game of the program’s history (to this point) by beating Oklahoma there.\u00a0 In this year’s Fiesta Bowl, Penn State runs over Boise State 31-14 to advance to the College Football Playoffs (CFP) Semifinals.<\/p>\n
Similar to how Penn State jumped ahead early last week in the Round One win over SMU<\/a>, the Nittany Lions again dominated early in the Fiesta Bowl.\u00a0 Penn State built a 14-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.\u00a0 However, the game was far from over.\u00a0 Penn State let Boise State back in the game, got too cute with play calling, and let the Broncos stick around before finally putting the game away.\u00a0 Heisman runner-up Ashton Jeanty<\/a> did show his impressive skills for Boise State in this game, but ironically Penn State’s running game proved to be the difference.\u00a0 Despite playing most of the game without stalwart Abdul Carter<\/a>, Penn State’s defense controlled Boise State’s offense.<\/p>\n The Fiesta Bowl showcased two of the game’s biggest stars.\u00a0 Boise State’s Jeanty came into the Fiesta Bowl 132 yards away from breaking the single-season rushing record, held by Barry Sanders.\u00a0 On the Penn State side, defensive end Carter headlined coordinator Tom Allen’s defense.\u00a0 Carter does not lack in either talent or confidence.\u00a0 The Fiesta Bowl was expected<\/a> to be a showdown of these stars.\u00a0 However, neither of these players had as much of an impact on the outcome as expected.\u00a0 Jeanty was bottled up by Penn State’s defense for most of the game, while Carter was injured in the first half and did not return.<\/p>\n Penn State’s coaching staff has been good at making necessary in-game adjustments.\u00a0 However, in the Fiesta Bowl, the Penn State staff over-adjusted.\u00a0 On offense, the Nittany Lions curiously veered from their bread and butter, despite the running game working time and time again.\u00a0 On defense, Penn State watched Boise State reorient to a passing attack with some success while shutting down Jeanty.<\/p>\n Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki has been creative all season.\u00a0 In the Fiesta Bowl, the running game worked, driven primarily by Kaytron Allen<\/a>‘s power running style.\u00a0 However, Penn State mixed in more passes than needed.\u00a0 Boise State’s pass rush is one of the nation’s best.\u00a0 In the Fiesta Bowl, quarterback Drew Allar<\/a> frequently scrambled, and dove forward leading with his shoulder.\u00a0 After Beau Pribula left the program<\/a>, eventually transferring to Missouri, Allar’s backup is true freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer.\u00a0 The risk in Allar’s scrambles is obvious.\u00a0 Fortunately for Penn State, Mackey Award winner and Offensive Player of the Game Tyler Warren<\/a> remained a focal point through the game.\u00a0 When looking to eat clock in the fourth quarter, Penn State went back to the run.\u00a0 Nick Singleton<\/a> produced a 58-yard touchdown run to effectively end the game.<\/p>\n On the defensive side, Penn State was almost solely focused on stopping Jeanty.\u00a0 However, that focus on the run, as well as the loss of Carter to injury, led Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson and offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter to let quarterback Maddux Madsen<\/a> loose.\u00a0 Madsen was very accurate and kept his team in the game until the fourth quarter.\u00a0 The pass rush clearly struggled without Carter, though Defensive Player of the Game Zakee Wheatley<\/a> came through with a huge interception early in the fourth quarter to bail out the pass rush a bit.<\/p>\n There was never any doubt that Boise State was going to feature Jeanty in their offense.\u00a0 However, something happened in the Fiesta Bowl.\u00a0 Franklin spoke before the game about neutralizing Jeanty, saying Penn State needed to “overload the box with numbers and gang tackle.” Jeanty was effectively neutralized and forced Danielson and Koetter to find offense elsewhere.<\/p>\n Jeanty came into the game with the single-season rushing record within reach, which he did not achieve.\u00a0 After accumulating 344 carries entering this game, he had three weeks off and commented that he felt fresh and well-rested.\u00a0 However, he looked more rusty than well-rested.\u00a0 Most glaring for Boise State, Jeanty fumbled only twice for the season coming in but fumbled twice in the first half of the Fiesta Bowl.<\/p>\n Jeanty finished with 104 yards on 30 carries with no touchdowns.\u00a0 His highlight was a 26-yard run on 3rd-and-21.\u00a0 Given Penn State’s focus on shutting down Jeanty and the absence of Carter due to injury, Boise State opened up the passing game.\u00a0 Despite that, Jeanty still produced over 100 yards and ran hard all game.\u00a0 As evidence, there were multiple Penn State defenders who either hobbled off the field or were injured.\u00a0 However, in the end, Penn State emerged victorious, and as Franklin said after the game “We did a tremendous job against one of the best running backs in the history of college football.”<\/p>\n Passing:\u00a0<\/strong>Penn State threw for 171 yards, compared to 304 for Boise State.\u00a0 Drew Allar<\/a> completed 13 of 25 for 171 yards, with three touchdowns and no interceptions.\u00a0 For Boise State, Madsen completed 23 of 35 for 304 yards, with one touchdown and three interceptions.<\/p>\n Rushing:\u00a0<\/strong>Penn State had 216 yards, compared to 108 yards for Boise State.\u00a0 Allen led Penn State, and all players, with 134 rushing yards on 17 carries.\u00a0 Singleton added 87 yards on 12 carries, adding a touchdown.\u00a0 Boise State was led by Jeanty, who had 104 yards on 30 carries.\u00a0 Tyler Crowe rushed one time, which was an eight-yard touchdown.<\/p>\n Receiving:\u00a0<\/strong>Warren led Penn State with 63 yards on six catches with two touchdowns.\u00a0 Omari Evans added two receptions for 55 yards and a touchdown.\u00a0 For Boise State, Matt Lauter<\/a> led the team with a game-high 96 yards on four receptions with a touchdown.\u00a0 Cameron Camper had three catches for 66 yards.<\/p>\n Defense:\u00a0<\/strong>Kobe King<\/a> and Jaylen Reed<\/a> had eight tackles each to lead Penn State.\u00a0 Reed, Amin Vanover, and Dani Dennis-Sutton each had a sack.\u00a0 Additionally, Wheatley, Zion Tracey<\/a>, and Tyrece Mills<\/a> had an interception each, while Wheatley also recovered a fumble.\u00a0 Ty Benefield<\/a> led Boise State with a game-high nine tackles, while Alexander Teubner and Ahmed Hassanein had a sack each.\u00a0 Marco Notarainni, Andrew Simpson, Max Stege, and Michael Callahan each had a half-sack.\u00a0 Boise State\u2019s fumble recovery was by Seyi Oladipo<\/a>.<\/p>\n Special Teams:\u00a0<\/strong>For Penn State,\u00a0Ryan Barker<\/a> converted his only field goal attempt.\u00a0 He converted all four of his extra-point attempts.\u00a0 Riley Thompson<\/a> punted six times, averaging 47.2 yards per punt.\u00a0 For Boise State, Jonah Dalmas<\/a> missed both of his field goal attempts, but successfully converted both of his extra-point tries.\u00a0 James Ferguson-Reynolds<\/a> punted four times, averaging 40.8 yards per punt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Both Penn State and Boise State entered the Fiesta Bowl undefeated in this particular bowl, with a combined record of 10-0.\u00a0 Penn State won the 1986 National Championship there.\u00a0 Boise State won perhaps the biggest game of the program’s history (to this point) by beating Oklahoma there.\u00a0 In this year’s Fiesta Bowl, Penn State runs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5172,"featured_media":71315,"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":[2,5,7361,13,35610],"tags":[34494,34715,34714,34712,34717,493,4590,34711,34713,34709,34708,1306,837,5653,34716,34718,34719,8764,309,32874,34710],"class_list":["post-71303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-bigten","category-bowl-games","category-mountainwest","category-penn-state-nittany-lions","tag-2024-college-football-playoff","tag-ahmed-hassanein","tag-alexander-teubner","tag-amin-vanover","tag-andrew-simpson","tag-awards","tag-boise-state","tag-cameron-camper","tag-dani-dennis-sutton","tag-dirk-koetter","tag-ethan-grunkemeyer","tag-fiesta-bowl","tag-james-franklin","tag-mackey-award","tag-marco-notarainni","tag-max-stege","tag-michael-callahan","tag-omari-evans","tag-penn-state-nittany-lions","tag-spencer-danielson","tag-tyler-crowe"],"modified_by":"Michael 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Takeaways: Penn State Runs Over Boise State to Advance to CFP Semifinals<\/h2>\n
In-Game Over-Adjustments<\/h3>\n
Jeanty Bottled Up by Penn State’s Defense<\/h3>\n
By the Numbers: Penn State Runs Over Boise State to Advance to CFP Semifinals<\/h3>\n
Offense<\/h3>\n
Defense\/Special Teams<\/h3>\n