Penn State is just one win away from advancing to the national title game.
In the Fiesta Bowl, the No. 6 Nittany Lions opened a 14-0 lead and held on to defeat No. 3 Boise State, 31-14. PSU advances to the College Football Playoff semifinals and will face the winner of Georgia vs. Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl on January 9th. Penn State dominated Boise State in the first quarter, but a missed handoff cost Boise State and the Nittany Lions struggled to shake the Broncos the rest of the game.
Heck, you could even make the argument that Boise State lost an opportunity to win the game more than Penn State kept the Broncos on the road for much of the second half. Boise State appeared to have cut Penn State’s lead to three points with a TD pass in the third quarter, but a hand-to-the-face penalty forced the play to be called back. In the fourth quarter, Boise State had a chance to cut the lead to seven points with less than 10 minutes left, but the reliable Jonah Dalmas missed his second field goal of the game.
The only time Penn State let its fans rest was when Nick Singleton broke for a 58-yard TD run with 4:54 left. Singleton’s TD extended the lead to three points, ending Boise State’s hopes of a comeback.
Boise State running back and Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Giunty finished the game with 30 carries for 104 yards, 26 yards shy of breaking Barry Sanders’ single-season rushing record. Tuesday night was Giunty’s 14th game of the season. Sanders set his own record in 1988 with 11 regular season games, unofficially finishing with 2,850 yards after rushing for 222 yards in the Holiday Bowl.
Penn State star tight end Tyler Warren scored two touchdowns and had six catches for 63 yards and drew several penalty flags. Warren led the way with an 11-yard TD catch and added his second score with a 13-yard grab with 7:22 left in the third quarter. Both catches were great and showed why Warren is the best tight end in the country.
Boise State missed a field goal after receiving the first kickoff and went 3-and-out on its subsequent second drive. Penn State responded with a four-play drive that covered 56 yards and ended when Drew Allard hit Omari Evans for a 38-yard score.
At that point, it looked like Penn State was on its way to a big win. However, the match did not follow that tone. After Giunty committed a rare fumble on Boise State’s third drive, Penn State’s fumble on a bad handoff two plays later resulted in Boise State’s fumble, even if the Broncos didn’t directly result in a score. helped get him back into the game.
But Boise State never took the lead. After initially holding a 14-point lead, the closest the Broncos came to Penn State was at 17-14 when Maddux Madsen found a wide-open Matt Lauter for a 53-yard TD. Penn State immediately countered with an 11-play, 75-yard drive to push the lead back to 10.
Penn State’s dominant run game
The biggest reason it felt like Penn State didn’t eliminate Boise State when it could have, is because of the success of the Nittany Lions’ run game. Caitron Allen and Singleton finished the game with 29 carries for 222 yards, but those totals would be much higher if Allen didn’t make a long run that resulted in a penalty.
Boise State was successful in blitzing Aller, but at the same time struggled to contain the run game. It’s a bit of a mystery why Penn State didn’t attack Boise State’s defense with Allen and Singleton scoring.
That’s why you might feel like you can’t trust the Nittany Lions to win a national title. The Fiesta Bowl was a great opportunity to end the game early, but Penn State was unable to do so.
Another cause for concern is the status of star edge rusher Abdul Carter. The defensive end did not play in the second half due to an apparent left shoulder injury. Carter entered the game as one of the most dominant defensive players in the country, recording 11 sacks and 22 tackles for loss.
One of Carter’s defensive line counterparts, Dani Dennis Sutton, also went down late in the fourth quarter. Dennis Sutton was sacked Tuesday night and has averaged 5.5 points in the Nittany Lions’ first 13 games of the season. If one or both are unable to play in the Orange Bowl on January 8th, Penn State will be severely undermanned.
