The Penn State Nittany Lions (11-2) are set to make their College Football Playoff debut next Saturday, hosting the Southern Methodist Mustangs in Beaver Stadium for a first round matchup in this year's 12-team championship bracket.
The Nittany Lions fell in the Big Ten Championship Game to Oregon and now look to regroup and recharge to contend for a national championship. The Mustangs stand in the way of that quest, however.
Prior to the College Football Playoff clash between the Nittany Lions and Mustangs, Happy Valley Insider takes a first look at SMU.
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Game/Broadcast Details:
Where: State College, PA
Stadium: Beaver Stadium (Official capacity of 106,572)
Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
Television: TNT - Mark Jones (PxP), Roddy Jones (Color), Quint Kessenich (Sideline)
Odds: Penn State opened as an +8.5-point underdog, over/under is 54 points.
An opportunity to make a run:
The College Football Playoff wasn't the goal, but the expectation for the Nittany Lions this season, as the stars aligned for James Franklin and company to finally compete on the grand stage.
Now that time has come and Penn State is tasked with taking it to the next level this month.
The Nittany Lions drew SMU in the opening round, while having home field advantage in the comfy confines of Beaver Stadium. The high flying Mustangs provide an opportunity for Penn State as it look to begin the home stretch for a national title run. The winner of next Saturday's battle gets a date with No. 3 Boise State in the quarterfinals.
Every game from here on out is going to be a grind. We knew that. But, you couldn't draw up a better path to the semifinals, where Penn State would play one of Georgia, Notre Dame or Indiana, depending on how that portion of the bracket were to shake out.
The narrative surrounding Penn State in big games was extended in the Big Ten Championship Game, but now Franklin and his Nittany Lions have another opportunity to start putting that behind them by potentially knocking off SMU.
Key SMU stats/notes to know...
Will the Ponies' fairytale continue?
You couldn't draw up a better start to SMU's ACC realignment move, as the Mustangs came out of nowhere to compete for the conference crown in their first year since moving on from the American Athletic Conference.
Head coach Rhett Lashlee has orchestrated one of the best stories in all of college football this season, on par with the likes of Indiana, Boise State and Arizona State, who also in the College Football Playoff after being unlikely contenders to start the year.
SMU's fairytale season hit a slight bump in the road in the ACC Championship Game loss to Clemson, but that didn't deter the selection committee from keeping the Mustangs in the field of 12.
Penn State has an opportunity to end SMU's run for good next Saturday, which will be a tough test, even at home.
Jennings leads explosive SMU offense:
Sophomore quarterback Kevin Jennings has been one of the top signal callers in the country this season, leading what has been an explosive attack by the Mustangs. SMU comes into next Saturday with the sixth-ranked scoring offense in the country, averaging 38.5 points per game this season, having just one game with under 28 points.
Jennings has thrown for 3,050 yards, with 22 touchdowns, while also accumulating 379 yards and five scores on the ground to lead the SMU offense.
He has a deep receiving corps to lean on as well, with eight players having 300 or more receiving yards this season. For context, Penn State has just four. Roderick Daniels Jr. and Keyshawn Smith pace the group with over 500 yards apiece.
The ground game has also been a strength for the Mustangs, behind First-Team All-ACC running back Brashard Smith, who has 1,270 yards and 14 touchdowns this season. Both marks are in the top 25 nationally this season.
SMU provides a deep and talented offense, but Jennings is what makes the Ponies go.
Series history:
It has been a very brief history between the Nittany Lions and Mustangs, meeting just twice on the gridiron through each program's storied histories. During the first meeting in 1948 in Dallas, the teams settled for a tie. The rematch would have to wait 30 years as Joe Paterno and the Nittany Lions beat the Mustangs 26-21 in Happy Valley.
The third iteration will take place almost 50 years after the last meeting, once again in State College.
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