On Saturday afternoon the Penn State Nittany Lions punched their ticket into the second round of the College Football Playoff with a dominant victory over the SMU Mustangs.
From the opening whistle it was clear Penn State was the better team, which was playing better football. Head coach James Franklin admitted he wanted his team to be “aggressive,” which resulted in a dominant 38-10 victory. “I told the guys we were going to call the game aggressively,” Franklin said, via ESPN. “I wanted them to play aggressively.
Don’t play on your heels, play on your toes. Fourth-and-1, I can’t say that all week long and then not do it.” In addition to grabbing the win and setting up a date with Boise State on New Year’s Eve, the Nittany Lions also made history.
According to an announcement from the team, Penn State hosted the largest crowd in College Football Playoff history with over 106,000 fans in attendance. Until this season most College Football Playoff venues didn’t have the capabiltiy of hosting that many fans.
However, with the new format allowing for home games in the first round, programs like Penn State and Ohio State had a shot at the new record – rather easily.
The Nittany Lions hosted around 5,000 more fans than the Buckeyes did for Saturday night’s game against Tennessee.
Now Penn State’s focus is on the Boise State Broncos and Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty. Ahead of the game, Franklin sent a clear message. “A lot of college coaches talking about this being a four-game season. It’s not,” Franklin said. “It’s a one-game season. … How you value those reps, how you prepare, will give you an opportunity to play again.
We’re in a one-game season and we just extended our season one more game.”
Penn State and Boise State kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET on New Year’s Eve.
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