No. 6 Penn State held Ashton Jeanty in check and overcame some questionable play-calling on offense to beat No. 3 Boise State, 31-14, in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff.
The Nittany Lions advance to the playoff semifinals against Wednesday night’s winner between No. 2 Georgia and No. 7 Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl.
The key in the Fiesta Bowl was simple: Penn State had to be the first team this season to bottle up Jeanty, the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy, while controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.
Those efforts took a big hit with the loss of star defensive end Abdul Carter, an All-America pick who left the game in the second quarter due to an apparent arm injury and didn’t return. On the offensive side, the Penn State front struggled to contain the Broncos’ edge rushers and create a clean pocket for quarterback Drew Allar.
Even without Carter supplying pressure, lessening Jeanty’s impact put the focus on Boise State quarterback Maddux Madsen, who completed 23 of 35 throws for 304 yards and a touchdown with three interceptions.
While unable to keep Jeanty completely under wraps, the Nittany Lions were able to contain the junior All-America selection. Jeanty finished with 104 yards on 30 carries with a long of 26 yards.
He had gone for at least 125 yards in every game during the regular season and was only 132 yards shy of breaking Barry Sanders’ single-season rushing record. The Nittany Lions were the first FBS opponent to keep Jeanty out of the end zone.
Penn State’s running game chewed up 216 yards on 41 carries, led by Kaytron Allen’s game-high 134 yards, though the offense spent too much time ignoring the ground attack and keeping the ball in Allar’s hands.
Under pressure from the Broncos’ strong pass rush, Allar went 13 of 25 for 171 yards with three touchdowns. Allar avoided any interceptions but did cough up a fumble, recovered by the Broncos. The Nittany Lions leaned on star tight end Tyler Warren, who had 63 receiving yards and two scores despite being the primary focus of attention from Boise State’s back seven.
In addition to the eyebrow-raising decision to shy away from an effective running game, PSU was hampered by a series of strange decisions on key downs. The inability to put together sustained drives allowed the Broncos to say in the game.
For PSU, the win joins a 38-10 victory against SMU in the opening round. Along with several impressive results against Power Four leagues in traditional bowl games, these two wins support the Big Ten’s case for being seen as the top conference in the FBS.
PSU stepped out to a 14-0 lead and seemed poised to leave the Mountain West champions in an insurmountable hole before the Broncos rebounded with a touchdown run with just under nine minutes left in the second quarter. The Nittany Lions made a 40-yard field goal as time expired in the quarter to lead 17-7 at the break.
Boise would respond with a defensive stop to open the third quarter followed by a 47-yard touchdown pass to tight end Matt Lauter, who sneaked down the left sideline thanks a costly defensive breakdown by the Nittany Lions.
Penn State would follow with a 11-play, 75-yard drive capped by a 13-yard score to Warren to move ahead 24-14 and reassert control. Boise State’s next two drives spanning the third and fourth quarters lasted 12 and 13 plays, respectively, but ended in an interception and a missed 38-yard field goal.
Taking over with about nine minutes left, the Nittany Lions converted one key third down on an Allar completion and then delivered the knockout blow on a 58-yard touchdown by running back Nick Singleton with five minutes to play.
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