By Kyle Golik
No. 6 Penn State looks to improve to 8-0 in the Fiesta Bowl all-time against the No. 3 Boise State Broncos on Tuesday night at 7:30 on ESPN. The matchup features two programs that rank in the Top 10 in winning percentage (Boise State at No. 5; Penn State at No. 9), with Penn State also being top 10 in overall wins (Penn State No. 7 with 942). Boise State currently has the most consecutive winning seasons with 27, Penn State has the all-time record with 49. The Fiesta Bowl will be setting for the first time these programs meet up.
Penn State head coach James Franklin, who secured his 100th win at Penn State against SMU 38-10 in the First Round of the College Football Playoffs looks to secure his fourth New Year’s Six bowl win and second in the Fiesta Bowl.
Franklin’s coaching counterpart Spencer Danielson is in his first full season at Boise State and has a 16-2 record.
Here are Penn State’s five keys to success in the Fiesta Bowl against Boise State:
1) Penn State avoids getting beat twice by Ashton Jeanty
Heisman runner-up Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty was the primary reason Broncos success with the run game that ranked fifth nationally at 250.5 yards per game. For the Nittany Lions, they have to avoid getting beat twice by Ashton Jeanty. What I mean by that is not to get too enamored with Jeanty as the Boise State offense is the No. 3 scoring offense in the nation.
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During the 2024 season, Boise State was the No. 3 scoring offense in college football. They put up 34 points on the No. 1 Oregon team, Penn State’s defense won’t phase or be a shock to them.
Boise State played twice against UNLV, the only team to finish in the Top 25 in rush defense Boise State had played (Oregon finished 34th in rush defense at 132.7 yards per game), who finished allowing 118.8 yards per game. In those games, Jeanty finished with 337 yards and two rushing touchdowns. When you couple his Oregon performance with 200 scrimmage yards and three touchdowns, Jeanty should hold his own against Penn State.
Getting beat twice is if Penn State concentrates on Jeanty, the Boise State offense has the weapons to beat Penn State. Remember Oregon exploited Penn State by shifting the pocket in containment and hitting open space, a disciplined team like Boise State can too if Penn State focuses completely on Jeanty.
The Broncos famed “Clydesdale Package” might be able to match wits with the exotic approaches of Andy Kotelnicki but Tom Allen has to figure out how to adjust and not get beat here.
2) Will a No. 2 WR emerge for Penn State?
While the rout was on in the First Round against SMU, the question of who is Penn State’s No. 2 wide receiver still exists. If you scheme the Penn State offense, quarterback Drew Allar’s primary target is Mackey Award-winning tight end Tyler Warren. Allar’s second-most targeted pass receiver is running back Nick Singleton. Penn State’s WR No. 1 is Trey Wallace.
Beyond those three is a mystery in the Penn State pass game. You could argue that with the randomness of Omari Evans, Liam Clifford, and Julian Fleming it is hard to game plan, but when Penn State gets behind and has to throw, Allar is forced to thread the needle to Wallace and this has been costly at times.
If the Nittany Lions can get someone to emerge from Evans, Clifford, and Fleming it only makes Penn State’s pass offense that much harder to defend and opens it up more for Warren and Singleton.
3) Penn State needs to know where Ty Benefield & Seyi Oladipo is on the field
Penn State is aggressive in third and fourth down with short situations where they will go for it in those situations. Two of the Broncos biggest defensive threats are safeties Ty Benefield and Seyi Oladipo.
Benefield was fourth in the Mountain West with 24 stops, many of them in critical situations. Benefield’s safety partner Oladipo led the Mountain West with 34 stops.
With Penn State trying various schemes in Kotelnicki’s offense, Allar must be aware of how the safeties are lined up because they will make a play in coverage or on the line of scrimmage.
4) Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen continue to sizzle
While Jeanty will garner more of the headlines, Penn State’s duo at running back Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton continues to spark the Penn State offense.
Even in defeat against Oregon in the Big Ten Championship, the Penn State ground game had 292 yards rushing, Singleton (105) and Allen (124) accounted for 229 of them, averaging 9.4 yards per rush against Oregon.
The duo’s streak continued against SMU where they had 160 of Penn State’s 189 yards on the ground, despite sitting out much of the fourth quarter when the game was decided.
Penn State’s offense can only succeed if Singleton and Allen continue to power it. With the wide receivers being a glaring weakness, Penn State can ill afford mishaps on the ground.
5) Force Maddux Madsen To Beat You
Boise State is one of the most disciplined teams in the nation, having only eight turnovers, and only Vanderbilt, with seven, had fewer.
Containing Jeanty will be a tall task, but if the Penn State offense can explode and force Boise State to abandon the run, Maddux Madsen though efficient, along with Allar one of 42 quarterbacks to have a touchdown to interception greater than 7 in a single season, isn’t exactly a one-man show to beat Penn State like Will Howard and Dillon Gabriel did to Penn State.
Madsen has been protected by a wall of Boise State linemen, which ranks 10th in the nation in sacks allowed (0.92 per game) and ninth in tackles for loss allowed (3.77). However, in three of Boise State’s final four games, against Oregon State, Nevada, and Wyoming, Madson completed just over half of his passes 50.6% (40 for 79 passing).
A Penn State secondary consisting of AJ Harris, whose PFF coverage grade ranked second in the Big Ten, and Jaylen Reed, one of two Power 4 safeties this year with at least 3 interceptions, 2 sacks, and a forced fumble, will cause mismatches against the Broncos pass catchers.
