Jan 1, 2025
The Associated Press Penn State tight end Tyler Warren pulls in a touchdown pass as Boise State safety Ty Benefield defends during the second half on Tuesday night.
GLENDALE, Ariz. — During the Fiesta Bowl lead up, James Franklin mentioned that his family was enjoying the hospitality here and said his wife and daughters were taking a hot-air balloon ride.
He wasn’t going.
“This is a business trip,” Franklin said. “I told our guys this isn’t a bowl game. This is a playoff game, and I want to make sure our players understand the difference.”
The Nittany Lions, now 13-2, heeded their coach’s message.
Penn State was the dominant team on both sides of the ball and, after staking themselves to an early 14-0 lead and then semi-sliding into cruise control, the Lions rolled to a 31-14 win over Boise State before 63,854 at State Farm Stadium.
“We did some special things tonight,” Franklin said.
The win punched PSU’s ticket to the College Football Playoff semifinals and a matchup with the winner of tonight’s game between Georgia and Notre Dame.
That will take place in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 9.
Penn State’s defense successfully gang tackled Boise’s star running back and Heisman Trophy runnerup Ashton Jeanty, limiting him to 104 yards on 30 carries and not allowing him to take over the game.
“We just played lights out,” Franklin told the Fiesta Bowl crowd in the post-game trophy presentation. “So much respect for that young man (Jeanty) and his game. We had to get tackles for a loss. We had to be disruptive. We had to wrap, and we did a tremendous job against one of the great running backs in the history of college football.”
Franklin corrected a reporter who commented that the Lions “sort of corralled” Jeanty.
“Not sort of,” Franklin said. “I thought we did corral him.”
The Lions achieved that largely minus their best defensive player, Abdul Carter, a projected Top-10 pick in the upcoming NFL Draft who went out of the game with an arm injury and did not return.
His status for the next playoff game would be questionable.
Penn State’s offense was a bit uneven. It fumbled away a chance to build on its two-touchdown lead, dropped a couple passes, gave up sacks and committed too many penalties.
But easing off the gas and allowing Boise back in the game at 17-14 in the third quarter — part of that was to the Broncos’ credit, certainly — Penn State immediately responded with a clutch touchdown drive and was never seriously threatened again.
“I think it came down to us sticking together as an offense,” Tyler Warren, who uncharacteristically dropped a couple passes, said afterward. “It’s been our deal all year — sticking to each other, trusting our process, and there was no panic or urgency. We were just playing our game and it worked out.”
That game involved getting back to the run as Kaytron Allen (134 yards) and Nick Singleton (87) gouged the Broncos.
Franklin was not overly pleased with the first-half performance, saying the Lions needed to clean up penalties, which they really didn’t, making 10.
That was offset by Boise making 13 penalties, in part because the Broncos couldn’t block Penn State’s ferocious pass rush.
Even without Carter, who left early in the second quarter, the Lions’ got multiple tackles for loss from fellow edge rushers Dani Dennis-Sutton and Amin Vanover.
And so now it’s on to one of the bigger games in Penn State history — certainly the biggest of Franklin’s tenure — as the Lions will get the winner of Georgia-Notre Dame.
With a berth for the national title on the line.
If the Lions’ first two playoff wins, over SMU and Boise State, lacked blue-blood brand, the remaining kingpins will not.
Most college football experts felt Penn State would benefit most from the expanded 12-team playoff, and the Lions, through a favorable draw — no question — are taking advantage.
“I remember back in training camp talking to these guys,” Franklin said. “I want moments like this for them. This is what it’s all about. It’s about the players. They’ve earned this. This is a mature football team that’s handled things the right way all year long, so I’m just happy for our guys.”
At the same time, the players want it for their coach, who has endured his share of big-game disappointments in his 11-year tenure but now has the Lions at the threshold.
“To be able to play with these guys one more week and one more game means the world,” Warren said. “A win for Coach Franklin on a stage like this means a lot to us.”
As the calendar flips to 2025, Penn State is still playing so it doesn’t get much better than that.
Rudel can be reached at nrudel@altoonamirror.com.
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