NFL
By: Courtney Walsh
The Penn State Nittany Lions have finally made it to the College Football Playoffs. After years of misses, the playoff has been changed to include 12 teams, one of which is PSU. They will host the SMU Mustangs of the ACC, and it will be a cold afternoon whiteout. We all wanted to have a night game, but we take what we can get, right? Who needs to step up? What aspects of SMU do we need to shut down? Let’s dive into this matchup and what needs to happen for us to move on to the second round.
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Date: Saturday, December 21st
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Game Time: noon EST
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Venue: Beaver Stadium
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How to Watch (TV): TNT/MAX
The secondary was shredded by the Oregon Ducks’ passing attack. Hopefully, a week off to reset and refocus has them ready for an SMU team that loves to throw it all over the place. What will help the guys in the backend would be steady pressure on SMU QB from the Big 10 Defensive Player of The Year Abdul Carter and his running mate Dani Dennis-Sutton.
Forcing bad throws and getting the Mustangs off schedule would help A.J. Harris lock in and be the best version of himself on this huge stage. This defense is ranked 8th in PPG, 6th in total yards allowed, and 25th in sacks. Put that all together on Saturday and shock SMU early, sort of like Clemson did, but skip the comeback part. It has been proven that running the ball on PSU is a waste of time, and that should stay the same in this game.
The defense must be on point with Kevin Jennings, who is an athlete and can pull plays out of thin air. Just when you think he is tucking the ball and running, he hits the E brake and tosses the ball on a rope to a wide-open player. This is the first time SMU has been on this type of game, and that WILL play a factor, especially if they fall behind early with 100K fans full throat.
The game against Oregon showed this team has a ton of heart and can go toe-2-toe with the best of them. Not to bring up old stuff, but in my opinion, some bad calls from the refs and bad play calls stopped the Nittany Lions from bringing the title home.
It is tempting to have Drew Allar drop back 30-plus times and test the low-ranked SMU pass defense. I say we first should use the old formula of running the ball. It will be cold, and the Penn State offensive line can punish SMU until they give up. OC Andy Kotelnecki will need to create a solid game plan to beat the feel-good story team out of the ACC. Tyler Warren is a weapon that can line up anywhere and give the Stags a headache.
Most of the time, it is the road team that needs to get off to a fast start and grab the early lead. After the last game, I think it is Penn State that needs to punch SMU right in the mouth and not stop until the clock hits triple zeros. James Franklin can’t fall behind and then start to think, “Oh, no, here we go again.” Yes, this is a game Penn State should win, but the game isn’t played on paper. A good run game will set up the deep shots for Allar and the Nittany Lions, PSU will own the trenches and advance to the Fiesta Bowl and face Bosie State and a Hesiman Trophy runner-up with something to prove.
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