The Boise State Broncos will take on the Penn State Nittany Lions.
After beating SMU at home on Saturday, PSU now prepares for Ashton Jeanty and the Broncos in Glendale on New Year’s Day for the Fiesta Bowl.
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WHO: Boise State Broncos vs. Penn State Nittany Lions
when: 7:30 PM ET, December 31, 2024
where: State Farm Stadium, Glendale
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Former walk-on DeLuca provides early spark, Penn State routs SMU 38-10 in CFP; Next, Boise State
By WILL GRAVES AP National Writer
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) – In a time of constant change, Penn State linebacker Dominic DeLuca is a throwback.
The former walk-on team could be one too.
DeLuca wasn’t guaranteed anything when he arrived on campus nearly four years ago with no promise of a scholarship or anything else. He poured himself into his craft, carving a niche for himself as a special teams ace while pouring himself into the rotation on a defense that’s considered the nation’s best.
With sixth-seeded Penn State off to a bit of a shaky start Saturday against SMU in the first round of the College Football Playoff, the Nittany Lions needed a jolt.
DeLuca provided two.
The first came on a pick-6 that gave Penn State an early lead. The second intercepted an SMU drive as the Mustangs threatened to get back into the game and set the stage for a 38-10 outburst that pushed the Nittany Lions (12-2) into the CFP quarterfinals against the third top seed Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Eve.
“Dom’s just a player,” Penn State head coach James Franklin said after earning his 100th win with the school.
One that trip may become increasingly rare as the NCAA cuts the roster size to 105 starting next season.
“It breaks my heart a little bit that Dom might not be here if those rules were in place (when he arrived),” Franklin said.
The old ones still exist, for now. And Franklin used them to build a team that now has as many wins as any of the previous 130 editions.
“We’re a college football program that everybody should be proud of because these guys are doing it the right way at a time when it’s tougher than ever,” he said.
Linebacker Tony Rojas added a pick-6 of his own and Penn State shut down Kevin Jennings and the high-powered Mustangs (11-3), whose season ended amid a flurry of mistakes and errors and did little to eliminate the notion, esp. on the part of Alabama, that the ACC runners-up didn’t necessarily deserve a spot in the 12-team field in the first place.
“I can’t control the debate,” SMU coach Rhett Lashlee said. “I can’t control what people are going to say. We came in. They beat us today. We were outplayed by a really good team.”
Two weeks after getting pushed by Oregon in the Big Ten title game, Penn State responded by forcing three turnovers and racking up three sacks while holding the Mustangs to season-lows in points and yards (253).
“We wanted to put on a defensive performance like we did,” Penn State defensive tackle Dvon J-Thomas said. “Two pick-6s. Stopped the run. Stopped the passing game. We really shut everything down.”
Jennings, whose electrifying play fueled SMU’s undefeated regular-season sprint through the ACC, finished 20-of-36 for 195 yards with a late touchdown and three picks. He started the day by losing an open Matthew Hibner at the goal line to end the Mustangs’ promising opening possession, and things only got worse from there, for Jennings and everyone else who made the trip from almost 1,400 miles from Dallas. in central Pennsylvania.
His swing to Brashard Smith on SMU’s second drive sailed over the running back’s head and into the arms of an awaiting DeLuca, who raced 23 yards into the end zone to give Penn State the leadership Early in the second quarter, Jennings ran to his right and threw himself against his body in triple coverage. Rojas caught it and weaved 59 yards to give the Nittany Lions a 14-0 lead they never came close to squandering.
Kaytron Allen ran for two scores and Nick Singleton added another for the Nittany Lions, a 1-yard run late in the first half that put Penn State up 28-0. Singleton punctuated it with his jaw with Franklin on the sideline.
“He called me names and used some words … and said, ‘I’m a violent man,'” Franklin said. “I agree with him.”
Drew Allar completed 13 of 22 passes for 127 yards while playing every significant snap after backup Beau Pribula, who has occasionally and effectively spelled Allar all year, entered the transfer window earlier this year. week
And unlike in the ACC title game against Clemson, when the Mustangs roared back from a 17-point deficit in the second half to tie it before falling in the final blow, this time there would be no rally
The final two quarters were mostly a chance for the 106,000-plus crowd that battled temperatures in the 20s with a fairly steady breeze to soak in the kind of big-game win that hasn’t happened all that often. as they would during James. Franklin’s largely successful 11-year tenure.
With one test passed, another big one awaits us in the desert on the last day of 2024.
Food to take away
SMU: The Mustangs’ historic first season in the ACC after coming over from American Athletic ended with a disappointing thump. If Jennings hits Hibner to score, maybe things change. They’ll have the entire offseason to think about it.
Penn State: Singleton and Allen believe they are the best running back combination in the country. They certainly looked it as they combined to rush for 160 yards and three scores.
Next
SMU: Will look to back up its bold ACC debut next fall, when its conference slate includes games against Miami, Clemson and Louisville.
Penn State: Will try to win game No. 13 for the first time in the program’s 131-year history when it heads to the Fiesta Bowl, a game in which the Nittany Lions are 7-0 all-time.
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The Associated Press contributed to this article