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Penn State football faces off against Boise State Tuesday for a chance to go to a national semi-final game. The Nittany Lions are pushing into the College Football Playoff quarterfinal after a win over SMU in the first round.
Penn State played great football for most of the season, and lost only two games all year. That was to Ohio State, and then another defeat in the Big Ten championship game against Oregon. Penn State is roaring heading into the contest against the Broncos, who won the Mountain West.
Here are some bold predictions for the Nittany Lions as they prepare for the Fiesta Bowl.
Drew Allar will throw for at least 200 passing yards on the Boise State defense
Drew Allar has done a fabulous job at quarterback this season for Penn State. He started the year with a fabulous performance at West Virginia, throwing for three touchdowns in a win over the Mountaineers.
Allar kept the momentum going for most of the season. He's thrown 21 total touchdowns with seven interceptions on the year. The Penn State quarterback posted 3,021 passing yards this season, a career-high.
The first round of the CFP wasn't as kind to Allar. Penn State football fans were frustrated with his performance, as he finished the SMU game with just 127 passing yards.
Allar needs a bounce back game, and he should get it against Boise State. He's completing 69 percent of his passes, and going up against a Boise State defense that allows 247 passing yards a game. The opportunity is there for Allar to have a big day on the Boise State defense, who have allowed more than 3,200 total passing yards this year.
Speaking of defense, that brings up the next bold prediction for this game.
The Nittany Lions defense will hold Ashton Jeanty to less than 120 rushing yards
Penn State's rush defense is very good, and they will have their hands full with Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty. Jeanty is the heart and soul of the Boise State squad, as the rusher finished second this season in Heisman Trophy voting.
Jeanty has 2,497 rushing yards this season, and 29 touchdowns. He's as good as any running back to ever play college football, and is chasing Barry Sanders' record for single-season rushing yards in college football. Jeanty needs just 131 more yards to break that record.
Unfortunately for Jeanty, he has to gain that against a very good Penn State rushing defense. Penn State allows just 100 rushing yards a game. While Jeanty will get his against the Nittany Lions, it just won't be quite enough to break Sanders' record.
That leads to the final prediction for Penn State football in this game.
Penn State will advance to the semis
Penn State will do enough on defense to win this game against Boise State. While Boise State is incredibly talented, they don't match up well against a well-balanced Penn State football team.
Penn State coach James Franklin isn't taking Boise State lightly. The Broncos also lost to Oregon this season.
“When you talk about respecting our opponent, that’s the only game you’ve got to watch. They went to Oregon, which is a tough place to play. They went to Oregon and not only played well and lost by three but had the lead for significant parts of the game,” Franklin said, per On3.
“It don’t take a whole lot more than watching that game. But for our players and our staff, when you share a common opponent, you’re able to watch that game and make some parallels; there’s a ton of value in that.”
While Franklin has received a lot of criticism in recent years for not winning big games, he will be able to shake off those critics for at least one more round. The Nittany Lions should be advancing to the CFP semis in the first year of the expanded playoff. A win over Boise State would advance Penn State to a game against either Notre Dame or Georgia.
Time will tell if these predictions prove correct. Penn State and Boise State play Tuesday at 7:30 Eastern. Boise State enters the game with a 12-1 record, and has won 11 consecutive games.
