Opponent preview: SMU faces Penn State in College Football Playoff's first round
Nittany Lions are ranked No. 6 in postseason tournament
Posted on 12/18/2024 by PonyFans.com
With 88 receptions, 1,062 receiving yards and six touchdown catches, Tyler Warren is widely revered as the top tight end in all of college football (photo by gopsusports.com).
This is the goal, what the SMU Mustangs have wanted.

For years, the refrain coming out of the SMU football program has been that the Mustangs just wanted a chance to compete with the big boys, with the nation’s best.

That chance arrives — in a big way — at 11 a.m. (Central time) Saturday when the Mustangs take on Penn State in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Penn., in the first round of the College Football Playoff, the 12-team tournament that will determine a national champion; the game can be seen on TNT/MAX.

(photo by PonyFans.com).
The game will mark the third meeting ever between the programs, which have not faced each other since a 26-21 PSU win September 23, 1978.

SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee and the Mustangs often talk about the need to shut out distractions in order to get a favorable result, and that will be necessary — albeit difficult — against the Nittany Lions. Beaver Stadium is expected to be completely full Saturday, meaning the teams will be facing off in front of 106,572 fans in the nation’s second largest stadium (only Michigan Stadium, with a capacity of 107,601, is bigger).

The other undeniable subplot is that the game will be the coldest ever played by many of the Mustangs, with meteorologists predicting a high temperature in the mid-20s in the area known in central Pennsylvania as “Happy Valley.” (For context, the average kickoff temperature for the Mustangs’ 13 games this season has been 72 degrees.) By the end of the game, the temperature might turn downright balmy, climbing into the … upper 20s. There is no way to escape the fact that conditions like that are very unpleasant, and can lead to mistakes.

The good news? It’s going to be cold for Penn State, too. As much as the Nittany Lions will puff their chests out and insist that they don’t feel the cold that they hope will do in their guests from Dallas, rest assured, it will affect the Nittany Lions, too. Yes, they live in this weather and might be more used to it, but that doesn’t mean it can’t make passes difficult to catch, field goals difficult to kick or footing any easier.

Penn State (11-2 overall, 8-1 in the Big Ten) is seeded No. 6 in the CFP; the Mustangs are 11-2 overall, and went 8-0 in their first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference to finish first in the ACC. Each team is coming off a narrow loss in its conference championship game: Penn State fell, 45-37, to Oregon, while SMU was edged, 34-31, by Clemson.

The Nittany Lions, under 11th-year head coach James Franklin, are among the elite teams in the country, and the statistics reflect that. Their two losses have been close — they lost by a touchdown to the Ducks in the conference championship and to Ohio State November 2 in their only regular-season — but many of their victories have been lopsided affairs, eight decided by two or more scores and the most lopsided come in a 56-0 pasting of Kent State September 21.

Teams smother opponents like Penn State has because of exceptional talent, and Nittany Lions have loads of it.

Defensive end Abdul Carter (6-3, 252) is the latest in the long line of elite defensive players to play at Penn State. Consider former PSU studs like Matt Millen, Jack Ham, LaVar Arrington and Micah Parsons and it is easy to see why the Nittany Lions will insist their alma mater, and not Texas A&M, has the right to call itself “Linebacker U.” Carter has 60 tackles (37 solo), a Big Ten-leading 19.5 tackles for loss, 10 sacks (third in the conference), two forced fumbles and three pass breakups, despite being the No. 1 focus of every opponent’s protection scheme.

James Franklin is in his 11th season as head coach at Penn State (photo by gopsusports.com).
On the offensive side of the ball, tight end Tyler Warren (6-6, 261) creates as many mismatches for opposing defenses as any player in the country. A former high school quarterback who now looks like a power forward. His 22 career touchdowns (16 receiving, six rushing) are the most in program history by a tight end. This season, he set PSU tight end records with 88 receptions and 1,062 receiving yards; in the win at USC, he caught 17 passes in a single game — including a touchdown when he snapped the ball to quarterback Drew Allar and then raced upfield to catch a 32-yard touchdown. Among Power 4 tight ends, Warren ranks first in season receptions (88), season receiving yards (1,062), season receiving yards per game (81.7), season receiving touchdowns (6), season yards per reception (12.1), season total touchdowns (10) and season rushing touchdowns by a tight end (4) … and ranks “only” second among Power 4 tight ends with four games with at least 100 receiving yards.

Carter and Warren are the headliners — Carter was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, and was a consensus first-team All-America honoree, while Warren earned second-team All-America honors and became the first Nittany Lion ever to win the John Mackey Award, which is given annually to the nation’s top tight end. Carter was the Big Ten’s defensive lineman of the year, and Warren the conference’s Tight end of the Year. Each is a finalist or semifinalist for other national awards.

But they are not the only standouts roaming through central Pennsylvania.

• Redshirt junior linebacker Kobe King (6-1, 248) is the team’s second-leading tackler, with 72, and has 8.5 tackles for loss and 3 sacks.

• Redshirt sophomore left guard Olaivavega Ioane is a second-team All-Big Ten behemoth (6-4, 348) on the left side of the line who has helped the Nittany Lions rank first in the Big Ten and seventh nationally in fewest sacks allowed (0.9) per game.

• Senior safety Jaylen Reed (6-0, 212) earned second-team all-conference recognition after leading the entire team with 79 tackles, along with 4.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and a team-high three interceptions.

• Sophomore cornerback A.J. Harris (6-1, 193), a transfer from Georgia, has 39 tackles and four tackles for loss, and has broken up four passes, the second-highest total on the team.

Right guard Sam Wormley (6-3, 327), Allar (6-5, 235), running back Kaytron Allen (5-11, 220), center Nick Dawkins (6-4, 298), right tackle Anthony Donkoh (6-5, 330), left tackle (Drew Shelton (6-5, 307), running back Nicholas Singleton (6-0, 226), wide receiver Harrison Wallace III (6-1, 198), defensive tackle Zane Durant (6-1, 288), defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton (6-5, 266),

defensive tackle Dvon J-Thomas (6-1, 305), cornerback Jalen Kimber (6-0, 184), linebacker Tony Rojas (6-2, 236), safety Zakee Wheatley (6-2, 200) and even long snapper Tyler Duzansky (6-4, 216) earned all-Big Ten honors from at least one voting body.

So what does this all mean? It means the Nittany Lions present the Mustangs with a significant challenge Saturday, beyond the freezing temperatures and massive crowd.

Penn State has more than doubled its opponents on the scoreboard, by an average of 33.6-16.4 points per game (totals that are, admittedly, skewed by the laugher over Kent State) and are equally dominant in the rushing game, averaging 202.2 yards per game compared to an average of just 103.6 yards surrendered on the ground. Passing totals are a little closer — the Nittany Lions throw for an average of 246.5 yards per game, compared to 178.5 by opponents, but those numbers are closer than they should be because so many opponents found themselves trailing by significant margins and were forced to take to the air. They convert an impressive 48 percent of their third downs and 76 percent of their fourth downs into first downs.

Quarterbacks and skill position players often get top billing, but few teams better back up the idea that it all starts with the offensive line. All five starters got some level of All-Big Ten recognition, and not coincidentally, allowed just 12 sacks all season.

Defensive end Abdul Carter collected 60 tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss and 10 sacks on his way to Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and consensus All-America honors (photo by gopsusports.com).
Allar is a big passer who plays big, with a strong passing arm and the wheels and stiff-arm to run over many defenders. He’s no late bloomer, either: Allar started his PSU career by throwing 311 passes without an interception, breaking the previous national record (set by Baylor-ex Robert Griffin III, who started his career with 209 pick-free passes) by more than 100. He needs eight more completions for 500 in his career, and 131 passing yards for 6,000. As productive as he is, Allar is equally careful with the ball: in 2023, he and Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker were the only quarterbacks in the country with 25 or more passing touchdowns and two or fewer interceptions. This season, he has completed 224 of 324 passes (69.1 percent) for 2,894 yards seven interceptions and 21 passing touchdowns.

His 1.16 career interception percentage is the best in the history of Penn State football.

SMU defensive coordinator Scott Symons called Allar “the most complete pro-style quarterback that we’ve faced (in 2024), for sure.)

Singleton and Allen both got all-conference recognition for a reason: they’re both extremely productive. Singleton has 131 carries for a 838 yards and seven rushing touchdowns — each of which leads the PSU offense — while Allen has pounded out a team-high 173 carries for 822 yards, and like Allar, has run to paydirt six times this season.

Warren is the unquestioned top option in the Penn State passing game, but not the only one. Wallace has 39 receptions for 638 yards (16.4 per) and four receiving touchdowns, and Singleton is a viable threat out of the backfield, with 37 catches for 335 yards and five scores.

The Penn State defense, which plays a 4-3 as its base alignment but will change to meet the challenges presented by opposing offenses, is fast, physical and stingy. Like the offense, it is easy to get so caught up watching the star (Carter), but doing so would be ill-advised. Like the PSU offense, the success of the defense starts at the line of scrimmage. Just as the Nittany Lions had five offensive linemen pick up all-Big Ten honors, all four starting defensive linemen earned all-conference honors.

SMU offensive coordinator Casey Woods said that when scouting the Nittany Lions’ defense, he basically sees no flaws. “It’s the most complete defense we’ve played,” Woods said, “with the most explosive defensive line.”

That formula, Woods said, has been devastating for opposing offense.

“They have crushed a number of the opponents they’ve played,” he said, “just crushed the life out of them.”

Quarterback pressure is prioritized on both sides of the ball at Penn State. Some teams try to generate pressure by bringing safeties and even cornerbacks on blitzes, but like the Mustangs, the Nittany Lions are not one of those teams: 28 of PSU’s 33 sacks this season come from the defensive line and linebackers.

Reed is the heartbeat of the secondary, a rangy safety who can chase from one sideline to the other to hand out punishment on the back end; in some scenarios, he creeps forward, almost like an extra linebacker, which has helped boost his team-leading tackles total.

Kicker Ryan Barker is solid — he has connected on 12 of 15 field goals this year — but the Nittany Lions don’t turn to him as often as many teams do with their kicker. Like just about all kickers, he is more accurate from closer in: he missed his only attempt from beyond 50 yards, and is 4-for-6 from 40-49. Punter Riley Thompson is averaging 42.8 yards on 37 punts this season, 14 of which he has dropped inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.

Drew Allar began his Penn State career by throwing an NCAA-record 311 passes without an interception (photo by gopsusports.com).

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