The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: Reviewing Penn State’s 38-10 College Football Playoff win over SMU
Andy Kotelnicki and Tom Allen walked into their joint postgame press conference together with a smile. And before any questions could be asked, Kotelnicki put the attention on the man of the hour.
“Tom Allen, everybody,” Kotelnicki said. “We didn’t even need to show up today.”
Allen grinned as the offensive coordinator praised him. Kotelnicki was right, the defensive coordinator put together a gameplan that stumped SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings and made it so Penn State’s eventual victory was never in doubt.
Jennings threw three interceptions in the game, and two of them were returned for touchdowns, giving Penn State a 14-0 lead before the offense could score on its own.
Allen, for all of his efforts, foisted the credit onto his players.
“Total team effort,” Allen said. “Just so proud of our guys. We challenged them this week to be the reason why. We knew this was going to be a game where the tempo is challenging, and they’ve given lots of people trouble. ... Just a collective effort all three levels. Just really proud of our guys.”
Defensive tackle Dvon J-Thomas was quick to give credit back to his coach.
“We spoke a lot about going in and being exactly who we are and not letting the moment define us but defining the moment. I think we did that well.” he said. “I think our defense really went in, very level headed. We understood that SMU was a really good team with a really good quarterback that can make some explosive plays, especially on his feet moving around. I think we came in, and we played and adjusted to that well. ... That is just a testament to us and how we approach everything throughout the week, especially Coach Allen’s approach to this week, especially coming off of the Big Ten Championship, adjusting to the tempo and playing through that very well.”
Good
Running game: Penn State proved how good its running game could be two weeks ago when it gashed Oregon for big gain after big gain, and it did it again on Saturday. The Mustangs, like the Ducks, have excelled against the run all year — and like the Ducks they got dominated on the ground. Penn State struggled a little bit early, but that didn’t last long, with Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton gashing the Mustangs for big gain after big gain. The duo combined for 25 carries for 160 yards and three rushing touchdowns and carried an offense that needed it on Saturday.
Allen and Singleton are more than capable of doing the heavy lifting for this offense when a defense takes away tight end Tyler Warren, and may have to do it again down the road in this playoff run.
Edge pressure: It’s hard for Abdul Carter and Dani Dennis-Sutton to exceed expectations at this point, but they both did on Saturday. The SMU offensive line never had a chance because those two edge rushers were consistently beating the team’s offensive tackles right off the snap. They combined for 3.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks, but it wasn’t just about the plays that the duo ended in the backfield. SMU QB Kevin Jennings is one of the most versatile quarterbacks in the country with the ability to extend plays with his legs and create offense on his own. Carter and Dennis-Sutton kept him contained and limited those opportunities by keeping him in the pocket and tracking him down when necessary.
This isn’t the first time those two have dominated a game and won’t be the last.
James Franklin’s aggressiveness: Plenty of people were on head coach James Franklin for going for it on fourth down on his own 19-yard-line, but those are the types of decisions that can define a team’s identity and can give it an edge in closer games. Yes, there is downside to going for it in that spot — SMU can get the ball back with a short field — but there’s also plenty of upside. The Nittany Lions only needed a single yard to convert, and getting that would have opened the door for a long drive that could have put the game away. I understand that it’s not traditional to make that decision, but that doesn’t make it wrong. Sure, it didn’t work out this time, but more often than not this offense is going to pick that yard up, and it’s the kind of call that can win the Nittany Lions a game against a stronger opponent.
Defensive playmaking: Linebackers Dom DeLuca and Tony Rojas deserve a lot of credit for their three combined interceptions and two defensive touchdowns. DeLuca’s second pick — when he deflected a Jennings pass and hauled it in — may have been the only one that required more than catching a ball thrown at them, but that doesn’t make those plays any less valuable. DeLuca and Rojas put themselves in position to succeed by being in the right place at the right time, with DeLuca ready to make a clean tackle if Jennings threw the first pass well and Rojas not giving the SMU quarterback an easy path to hit his pass catcher. Not to mention, their returns to the end zone set the tone for the game early and closed the Mustangs out before they ever had a chance to get going.
Bad
Early reaction to tempo: For all of the good from Penn State, there was a lot of bad on the first defensive drive. Allen’s defense was all over the place, in a bad way. The group was struggling to communicate and was consistently out of position when the Mustangs initially got the ball, leaving wide receivers wide open and leaving the field unbalanced to give SMU easy rushing lanes. The Nittany Lions got bailed out by a bad Jennings decision to not run for a first down on a fourth down, and they needed it. They were able to settle down from there, but the lack of communication and increased confusion from the defense was a problem that needed to be solved. It eventually was, but there will inevitably be more teams that try to use tempo to get the defense out of sorts the rest of the way.
Ugly
Kevin Jennings: I’ve already mentioned Jennings quite a bit, but there’s a reason for that. He is one of the best quarterbacks in the country when he’s on, but he very much was not on Saturday. He gave the ball away too many times and was unable to create the kind of plays he usually does. Yes, a lot of that credit has to go to Penn State’s edge rushers, but Jennings wasn’t doing himself any favors. There were times when he felt pressure that wasn’t there and played indecisively, not giving himself or SMU a chance to succeed. I have little doubt that Jennings will be one of the best quarterbacks in the country next season, but this game is going to have to be one that he learns from to grow.
