Penn State powers past Boise State in Vrbo Fiesta Bowl
Lions defense stifles nation's top rusher while too many miscues sink Boise State's title hopes.
GLENDALE, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - The first-ever College Football Playoff quarterfinal featured Mountain West Conference champions Boise State Broncos and the Penn State Nittany Lions out of the Big 10 conference.
Penn State arrived in Glendale fresh off their first-round win, 38-10 over the SMU Mustangs in the opening round of the College Football Playoff.
Boise State started the game with the ball. Penn State's defense stymied the Broncos running attack, led by Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty. The Broncos were still able to create positive momentum through their passing game with a 24-yard completion from quarterback Maddux Madsen to Matt Lauter. The drive would come up empty after a 45-yard field goal was missed badly to the left.
Penn State would capitalize on their first drive, going 72 yards on nine plays in just over four minutes. Quarterback Drew Allar found tight end Tyler Warren in the back of the end zone on an 11-yard TD strike putting the Nittany Lions up early.
Penn State would not let up. After forcing a three-and-out, Allar and the offense would waste no time putting more points on the board. Allar would find Omari Evans deep for a 38-yard score, Penn State now up 14-0.
Things would go from bad to worse for the Broncos, as Jeanty would fumble the ball and recovered in midair by Zakee Wheatly giving the ball back to PSU.
That mistake would not come back to haunt Boise State as a few plays later, Allar would fumble the ball back to the Broncos.
Both teams would trade possessions throughout the second quarter before Penn State nailed a 40-yard field goal to give them a 17-7 lead going into halftime.
The Nittany Lions would go into the half with some troubling news, as star edge rusher Abdul Carter would leave the sideline with an injury and ruled out for the rest of the game. Carter would eventually make his way back to the Penn State sideline.
The double-digit deficit would not deter the Broncos from making this a game. They would take their first possession of the second half 83 yards in just five plays, capped off by a 53-yard TD pass from Madsen to Lauter making it a one-score game.
Penn State would find an answer of their own, going on an 11-play, 75-yard drive that would end in another Tyler Warren TD catch, this time from 13 yards out making the score 24-14 going into the fourth quarter.
Miscues would prevent the Broncos from closing that gap. A touchdown pass at the end of the third quarter would be negated by a hands to the face penalty. That drive would end in an interception.
The Broncos next possession showed similar promise as they knocked onto the doorstep of the end zone once again. A sack by Amin Vanover followed by a pair of incompletions set up a field goal opportunity to make it a one-score game. Unfortunately, Jonah Dalmas would miss his second of two field goals inside of 40 yards preventing any sort of comeback.
The key factor of this game seemed to be Jeanty and how he would do against this vaunted Penn State defense. But, in fact, it would be the Penn State backfield of Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton, who combined for over 200 yards on the ground, with Singleton's 58-yard rushing score being the final nail in the coffin.
Jeanty would finish the game with 104 rushing yards, becoming just the second player to rush for over 100 yards on this Penn State defense (Woody Marks, USC). He would finish the season with 2,601 rushing yards, just 28 yards from breaking the single-season mark for rushing yards (Barry Sanders, 2,628 yards in 1988).
Penn State would come out on top 31-14 to win the Fiesta Bowl and continue their quest towards a national championship.
The Nittany Lions wait to see who they will face in the Capital One Orange Bowl on January 9th. They will play the winner of the Notre Dame-Georgia game, who play each other in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day.
