Boise State And Penn State Clash At The Fiesta Bowl

The Boise State Broncos and Penn State Nittany Lions will meet in the quarterfinal round of the College Football Playoff at the VRBO Fiesta Bowl. The Nittany Lions coming into this game after beating No.10  SMU at Beaver Stadium in the first-ever College Football Playoff at a regional site. The Broncos and the Nittany Lions will look to play a great game at State Farm Stadium. Now, we will dive into the preview of the game.

No. 9 Boise State Broncos

Boise State enters this game Champions of the Mountain West Conference. The Broncos enter this game with a record of 12-1 and 7-0 in conference play. There are a few games that stand out on the Broncos this season. Specifically, week two on the road at Oregon where Boise State had a 21-14 lead heading into the half. However, Oregon managed go come from behind and win 37-34. On the other hand, what might be more impressive for the Broncos is defeating the No. 24 UNLV Rebels two separate times this season including the most recent matchup 21-7 on December 6th. Prior to that, Boise State beat UNLV on the road on October 25th 29-24.

Overall, Boise State primarily sets their offensive scheme around running back Ashton Jeanty. There are various stats that demonstrate the value that Jeanty brings to this team. For example, Jeanty has over 1800 yards after contact. Further, against UNLV, Jeanty had 32 carries for 209 yards and one touchdown. Similarly, quarterback Maddux Madsen was 18/27 for 158 yards and one touchdown. The Broncos will look to get Jeanty is some sort of rhythm early on if possible.

No. 4 Penn State Nittany Lions

The Penn State Nittany Lions enter this quarterfinal game after defeating SMU 38-10 at Beaver Stadium on December 21st in the first-ever College Football Playoff game hosted at a regional site. Likewise, the game did set an attendance record of over 106,000 fans watched the historic game from the bleachers in Beaver Stadium. The Nittany Lions were in primary control of the game against the Mustangs from start to finish. Penn State went into the half with a 27-0 lead over SMU. In the second half, both teams scored ten points each. Quarterback Drew Allar was 13/22 for 127 yards.

On the other hand, the ground game played a huge role for the Nittany Lions with their dynamic duo of Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen. First, Singleton had 14 carries for 90 yards and one touchdown. Likewise, Allen had 11 carries for 70 yards and two touchdowns. Outside of those players, Penn State has versatility on both sides of the ball. Tyler Warren, who is primarily a tight end, has shown his ability to do it all. Opposing coaches have emphasized the importance of limiting Warren’s impact. On the defensive side of the ball, Abdul Carter, Dani Dennis-Sutton, Zane Durant along with Tony Rojas and Dominic DeLuca. These players had a major impact on the defensive side of the ball against SMU.

In total, Penn State had three interceptions and two of those were from DeLuca. Rojas had the other interception along with two tackles.

Kickoff And Odds

Kickoff from State Farm Stadium is set for 7:30 PM for the VRBO Fiesta Bowl. The game will be televised on ESPN. Right now, Penn State is a -11 point favorite.

Fiesta Bowl History

Lastly, Boise State is 3-0 at the Fiesta Bowl. Similarly, Penn State is 7-0 in the Fiesta Bowl and no other team has won more games at the Fiesta Bowl than the Nittany Lions.

Picture credit to action network