In front of a raucous crowd in Happy Valley and a White Out by the Penn State faithful, the Nittany Lions embarrassed the SMU Mustangs 38-10. Penn State dominated from the opening kick and never looked back. They were never in danger of losing this first round College Football Playoff game. The Nittany Lions will advance to face No. 3 Boise State at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl on December 31.
Penn State Dominates the First Half
The Mustangs defense forced a 3 and out on Penn State’s opening drive. A pass interference penalty on the Penn State set SMU up on the opposing side of the field, but an incompletion on fourth and 1 caused a turnover on downs as SMU’s aggressiveness did not pay off on this occasion. After forcing another punt, the turnover bug would bite the Mustangs again as Quarterback Kevin Jennings threw a pick 6 to give the Nittany Lions a 7-0 with 6:00 left in the opening stanza.
Penn State would be aggressive in their own right by going for it on fourth down at SMU’s 29 late in the first quarter. The weather and the gusty winds factored into Head Coach James Franklin’s decision as the Nittany Lions came up empty-handed. The game remained 7-0 at the end of the first quarter. SMU’s second quarter began disastrously as another pick 6 by Jennings gave Penn State a 14-0 lead early in the quarter. The Mustangs defense stood stall on fourth down the following drive as they stuffed a Drew Allar QB sneak to give SMU pristine field position.
Unfortunately, four plays later Jennings tossed his third interception of the game, and the second to Linebacker Dominic DeLuca. The Nittany Lions would take advantage of the turnover by scoring their first offensive touchdown of the game after a 25-yard run by Running Back Kaytron Allen made it 21-0. On SMU’s next drive, they were aggressive and went for it at their own 46. Jennings was sacked and the Nittany Lions were gifted a short field. They capitalized with a 1-yard touchdown run by Running Back Nicholas Singleton to take a 28-0 lead into the half.
SMU Continues To Struggle In the Second Half
SMU’s opening drive looked promising, but it stalled out and led to a field goal to cut the PSU lead to 28-3 a few minutes into the second half. SMU looked to catch the Nittany Lions sleeping as they attempted an unsuccessful onside kick. Penn State was given great field position, but SMU’s defense held them to a field goal to make it 31-3.
SMU drove down on the field on their next drive, but a missed FG kept the lead at 31-3. The Nittany Lions put together a 9-play drive punctuated by Allen’s second rushing touchdown to make it 38-3 early in the final quarter.
Allar was done for the day on Penn State’s next drive as Quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer relieved him. Backup QB Beau Pribula entered the transfer portal before the CFP and left the team. Grunkemeyer threw an interception on his first pass attempt and it led to SMU’s first score of the game to make it 38-10. The teams traded punts after that as this game came to an end.
Penn State had a perfect game plan in the second half as they took the air out of the ball and secured the victory. They methodically moved the ball down the field, and the Nittany Lions defense never allowed the Mustangs to find their footing. SMU’s defense played relatively well today but was undercut at every turn by their offense.
Final Thoughts
SMU was completely overmatched from the opening snap and did not look like they belonged on the same field as the Nittany Lions. After Indiana was dominated last night, and with SMU’s embarrassing performance today, the fans and pundits who did not believe SMU deserved to make the College Football Playoff were vindicated. The committee must reconfigure how they determine the teams in the 12-team playoff because the first two games have been blowouts.
