Penn State’s Game Balls, MVP From 38-10 College Football Playoff Demolition of SMU
Penn State Football dominated SMU to win their first college football playoff game in program history.
After Dom DeLuca returned an interception for a touchdown in the first quarter, there was little doubt Penn State would lose the game, with the Nittany Lions‘ defense completely stifling the SMU offense all day.
Overall, the Penn State defense outscored the SMU offense by four points (14 to 10) and the Penn State offense added 24 more points in a blowout 38-10 victory.
Here are the Nittany Lions players of the game and MVP for Penn State Football’s first playoff win in program history.
Penn State Football Game Balls, MVP from 38-10 Blowout Over SMU
Offense: Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton
Penn State’s two-headed rushing attack faced a tall task against an SMU run defense that ranked in the top five of college football.
At the end of the day, however, Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen set the tone for Penn State’s offense on a frigid day to will the Nittany Lions to an easy victory.
Singleton and Allen combined for 160 rushing yards and three touchdowns, both averaging 6.4 yards per carry against a Mustangs team that came into the game allowing under three yards per carry this season.
Allen scored twice for Penn State, once in the second quarter for Penn State’s first offensive touchdown and again in the fourth quarter for Penn State’s final points of the day. Singleton added another rushing touchdown in the second quarter to extend Penn State’s first half lead to 28.
Defense: Tony Rojas
Linebacker Tony Rojas had one of his best games as a Nittany Lion Saturday, recording three tackles, including one tackle for a loss, and a returning an interception 59 yards for a touchdown. Rojas’ interception was an incredible display of Rojas’ athletic ability as he weaved through SMU’s offense for a long touchdown to put Penn State up two scores early in the second quarter.
MVP: Dom DeLuca
Dom DeLuca became even more of a Penn State legend Saturday afternoon, adding to his long legacy at Penn State. As a former walk-on turned special teams captain and starting linebacker, Dom DeLuca has a long and inspiring story in Blue and White.
However, DeLuca added another legendary story to his Penn State lore Saturday, opening the scoring for the Nittany Lions by returning an interception for a touchdown in the first quarter and recording another interception later in the game. DeLuca totaled five tackles and a half-sack, half-TFL in his best game as a Nittany Lion.
With Saturday’s win, the Penn State Nittany Lions punched their ticket to the Fiesta Bowl against Boise State in the second round of the College Football Playoff. Penn State will need all four of these players (as well as more of the usual suspects) to continue to play their best to keep the dream of a national championship alive against the Broncos.
Penn State will play a program-record 15th game on December 31 when the Nittany Lions face Boise State. Both Penn State and Boise State are unbeaten in the Fiesta Bowl all-time, Penn State 7-0 and Boise State 3-0.
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