Penn State played with fire against Boise State; Lions are taking advantage of expanded CFP, and more of what they're saying

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Penn State is moving on to the College Football Playoff semifinals after taking out Boise State 31-14 in the first quarterfinal game ever played at the Fiesta Bowl. Tyler Warren caught two touchdown passes. Nick Singleton had a late scoring scamper to ice the game. And the Lions defense forced multiple turnovers while containing Broncos star Ashton Jeanty.

What are local and national Lions saying about the Lions today? Here’s a look.

Penn State played with fire

That’s the take of CBS Sports’ Shehan Jeyarajah, who, like many others, thought Penn State hurt itself too often and those mistakes kept it from pulling away earlier than expected.

[Andy Kotelnicki’s] abandoning of the run triggered a run of four punts and a field goal in the middle portion of the game to let Boise State back in,” he writes. “Quarterback Drew Allar had some great moments and flashed his NFL arm talent at times. Kotelnicki was right to take some shots against an inconsistent Boise State secondary. At the same time, Kaytron Allen ran the ball for nearly eight yards per carry. The running backs touched the ball only 29 times to Allar’s 25 pass attempts, which also engaged the fearsome Boise State passing attack.

“Penn State was lucky to get relatively overmatched opponents in Boise State and SMU in the first two rounds. That changes in the Orange Bowl. The messiness has to get cleaned up. That extends to penalties too — the Nittany Lions gave Boise State 10 penalties for 98 yards.”

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The Lions did what few others have: Slow down Ashton Jeanty

That was an angle many writers took after the game, including PennLive’s Bob Flounders. Jeanty finished with 104 yards on 30 carries, which comes out to an average of 3.5 yards per carry. All were far below the Heisman Trophy runner-up’s season average.

“Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty got his 100 yards against Penn State’s talented defense in the Fiesta Bowl on Tuesday night,” Flounders writes. “But it was not easy for the Boise State star.

“Jeanty, who had run for 2,497 yards and 29 touchdowns coming in, needed 30 carries to go for 104 yards. He averaged just 3.5 yards per attempt, and Jeanty did not score a touchdown and fumbled twice, losing one.”

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PSU is taking advantage of the 12-team CFP

That’s the take from Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde, who was on hand for the game. Many believe that the expanded Playoff was perfect for Penn State. It’s two wins so far, albeit against what many are calling the easiest postseason path, is proof of that.

“Penn State is exactly the program an expanded College Football Playoff was created for,” Forde writes. “The unusual suspects. Instead of having the Alabama Crimson Tide, Georgia Bulldogs, Ohio State Buckeyes, Michigan Wolverines and Clemson Tigers on repeat, here comes some fresh faces. Here comes what had been Team Almost.

“Over and over during coach James Franklin’s 11 seasons, the Nittany Lions have been good but not good enough for the four-team tournament. (So many losses to Ohio State, so many losses to Michigan.) They were continually left out, but would have made the 12-team playoff several times—if it had existed. Now it does, and Penn State is taking full advantage of it.”

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Final word

This week, it goes to Stewart Mandel of The Athletic.

“The Nittany Lions will be underdogs in their semifinal game against Georgia or Notre Dame, but it would be silly at this point to count them out,” he writes. “Not with their running game humming like it has the past few games, with the Allar-to-Warren connection and a defense that proved to be the first all season capable of slowing down Jeanty.”

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