The Penn State Nittany Lions have reached the national semifinals for the first time in program history (in the playoff era) after beating two inferior opponents in the previous rounds. The stakes and competition are about to be increased though with Notre Dame.
These two teams have built themselves off of good running games and strong defense. Neither team has great receivers to look out for, but tight end Tyler Warren may be the mismatch Penn St needs to score enough points to win.
It’s rare to see Penn St play a team and defense that is around their caliber. When they do, they usually disappoint. Penn St has scored one offensive touchdown against Ohio St in the last two games between the two, but then they scored 37 points against Oregon in the Big Ten title while their usually reliable defense got smoked, giving up 45 points.
The question is if Notre Dame is good enough defensively to give the Nittany Lions fits like Ohio State has, and if the Penn St offense and Drew Allar can play a little more like they did against Oregon than they have against Ohio St.
Injuries piled up in the Fiesta Bowl for Penn St on defense, including star defensive end Abdul Carter. He is posting revenge comparisons about Darth Vadar and himself on social media with his status uncertain. I take that as a good sign.
For Penn St to win, they need to keep the Fighting Irish running game in check. Jeremiyah Love leads the rushing attack with 7.3 yards per carry this season. Penn St was able to stop Heisman runner-up Ashton Jeanty last week, but Love is running behind a better offensive line.
Notre Dame loves to win games by winning the turnover battle. The Nittany Lions need to be careful to not make that an issue. They can be the stronger team throughout the game but still lose if they fail to take care of the ball.
Tyler Warren has made an impact in almost every game this season. He caught two touchdowns in the Fiesta Bowl and hopefully can do similar type things in the Orange Bowl.
This is a huge opportunity for Penn St to get the criticism that has faced the program off their backs. Beating Boise St and SMU were good wins, but questions about whether they can compete with the best teams in college football will still remain with a poor performance in this game.
Advancing to the national championship would be such a milestone moment for a team that hasn’t gone to a national title yet in the BCS or playoff era. Penn St has already done enough to consider this a good year. Let’s see if they keep building on the recent success and propel the program to new heights.
