College Football Playoff: No. 6 Penn State advances to the semifinals with a 31-14 Fiesta Bowl win over No. 3 Boise State

Penn State is one win away from the national title game.

The No. 1 Nittany Lions. 6 jumped out to a 14-0 lead and held on for a 31-14 victory over No. 3 Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl. PSU advances to the College Football Playoff semifinals, which will be held at the Orange Bowl on Jan. 9 against the winner of Georgia-Notre Dame. Penn State dominated Boise State in the first half, but a bad fumble gave Boise State life and the Nittany Lions struggled to shake the Broncos the rest of the way.

Heck, you could even make the argument that Boise State missed more game-winning chances than Penn State, which put the Broncos on hold for much of the second half. Boise State appeared to cut Penn State’s lead to three in the third quarter on a TD pass, but the play was called back for a hand and face penalty. In the fourth quarter, Boise State had a chance to cut the lead to seven with less than 10 minutes to go, but senior Jonah Dalmas missed his second field goal of the game.

Penn State gave their fans a sigh of relief when Nick Singleton broke off a 58-yard TD run with 4:54 to go. Singleton’s TD pushed the lead to three points and extinguished any hope of a Boise State comeback.

Boise State running back and Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty finished the game with 30 carries for 104 yards and went 26 yards to break Barry Sanders’ single-season record. Tuesday night was Jeanty’s 14th game of the season. Sanders set his record with 11 regular-season games in 1988 and unofficially finished with 2,850 yards after rushing for 222 yards in the Holiday Bowl.

Star Penn State tight end Tyler Warren scored two touchdowns and finished with six catches for 63 yards while drawing several penalty flags. Warren opened the scoring with an 11-yard TD catch and added his second with a 13-yard catch with 7:22 left in the third quarter. Both catches were spectacular and showed why Warren was the best tight end in the country.

Boise State missed a field goal after receiving the onside kick and went three-and-out on its second drive. Penn State responded with a four-play drive that covered 56 yards and ended when Drew Allar hit Omari Evans for a 38-yard score.

At that point, it looked like Penn State would take its own path to victory. But the game didn’t follow that vibe. After Jeanty made a rare fumble on Boise State’s third drive, Penn State’s fumble two offensive plays later helped Boise State get back into the game even though the Broncos didn’t directly convert the score.

However, Boise State has never led. The closest the Broncos got to Penn State after a 14-point lead was 17-14 when Maddux Madsen found an open Matt Lauter for a 53-yard TD. Penn State immediately responded. on an 11-play, 75-yard drive to restore the lead to 10.

Penn State’s dominant running game

A big reason why it feels like Penn State didn’t take out Boise State when it could have is because of the success of the Nittany Lions. Kaytron Allen and Singleton finished the game with 29 carries for 222 yards and that total would have been greater if Allen hadn’t had a long concussion that was pushed back due to a penalty.

Boise State found some success in developing Allar but at the same time struggled to play the game. Why Penn State didn’t destroy Boise State’s defense with more runs from Allen and Singleton is a mystery.

That’s why you can’t count on the Nittany Lions to win the national title. The Fiesta Bowl was a great opportunity to put the game away early and Penn State just couldn’t do it.

Another cause for concern is the status of star player Abdul Carter. The defensive tackle did not play in the second half with a left shoulder injury. Carter entered the game with 11 sacks and 22 tackles for a loss as one of the most dominant players in the country.

Dani Dennis-Sutton, one of Carter’s linemates on the defensive line, also went down late in the fourth quarter. Dennis-Sutton had a sack Tuesday night and has 5.5 tackles in the Nittany Lions’ first 13 games this season. If one or both are unable to play in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 8, Penn State will be shortchanged.