Photo by Kathy Reed
By Dom Reed

UNIVERSITY PARK – The Nittany Lions hosted the first round of the College Football Playoff game at Beaver Stadium Saturday.

The winner plays Boise State in Arizona at the Fiesta Bowl on December 31.

Penn State came out victorious pouncing the Mustangs 38-10.

The Nittany Lions opened the game on offense but Penn State didn’t generate much offense to start the game.  Penn State  watched their drive stall out in three plays totaling just seven yards in 2:20.

The Mustangs had a chance to possess the ball.  SMU had the ball for 2:20 running seven plays with just 49 yards.

The second Penn State drive the Nittany Lions again came up empty. Penn State gave the ball back to SMU.

Brashard Smith got the ball but would be stopped by Coziah Izzard for no gain at their own 20.

On the next play Kevin Jennings stepped back and looked for Smith but this time it would be picked off by Dominic DeLuca for a 23-yard return for a pick six.

Penn State had time of possession to their advantage having the ball for 8:49 to the Mustangs 6:11 on time of possession. Neither team was strong on third down conversions. The  Nittany LIons went 1-for-4 while the Mustangs were 1-for-3 on third downs.

Penn State rushed for 23 yards in eight attempts.SMU rushed for 32 yards in ten attempts.Penn State Drew Allar was 6-10 with 51 yards with one sack Nittany Lions Tyler Warren had 18 total yards in the first quarter.

Penn State showed great poise on the defensive side, picking off Jennings three times in the Nittany Lions 38-10 win over the Mustangs.

DeLuca had two of the three interceptions while Penn State’s Tony Rojas had a pick six as well.

The Nittany Lions led SMU 28-0 at halftime.

Allar had 24 total yards on three rushing attempts.

Kaytron Allen had 26 yards and Nicholas Singleton had 22 yards.

The Mustangs quarterback Jennings went 6-for-14 with 47 yards in the first half allowing two sacks.

On the positive side, the Nittany Lions were 1-1 on Red Zone scoring chances while the Mustangs went 0-1 in red zone scoring.

SMU got the ball to open the third quarter. Smith broke out big for a lengthy return out near midfield to start things off at the Mustangs 47. SMU mustered only three points on the drive.

Collin Rogers connected on a 28-yard field goal with 10:59 in the third quarter. 

The Nittany Lions scored ten points in the second half.

Penn State got scores from Ryan Barker on a 40-yard field goal and a rushing touchdown from Allen from four yards out.

The Nittany Lions had great defensive performances from Penn State’s Adbul Carter and Kobe Kings and others like Izzard and Zane Durant. The defense played well in the Nittany Lions win over the Mustangs.

Penn State fans did see time from Ethan Grunkenmeyer; he went 1-for-2 for nine yards, throwing one interception on the opening drive he was called in.

With the win, the Nittany Lions will travel to Arizona to take on Boise State in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl on December 31 on Tuesday while the Mustangs will fly back to Texas to look ahead to next season.