Against SMU, the Penn State defense did something it hadn’t done in more than 26 years.
With the first-ever College Football Playoff game inside of Beaver Stadium, the Penn State defense and environment was looking to wreak havoc on SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings and the Mustang offense.
The Nittany Lions defense did just that through the first two quarters of the game, capitalizing on a pair of pick-sixes and coming up with another interception, deflating the Mustangs best field position of the day.
This was the first time Penn State returned two interceptions for touchdowns in the same game since Nov. 1998 at Michigan State.
On the second play of SMU’s second drive on offense, Jennings dropped back and threw a pass of his back foot that was overthrown and picked off by redshirt junior linebacker Dominic DeLuca as he took it 23 yards to score the first points of the game.
As Penn State’s offense struggled to move the ball and build on the 7-0 lead, the Nittany Lions defense continued to be opportunistic. On a long third-and-16, Jennings rolled right and floated one right into the hands of the waiting Tony Rojas, who then danced around tackles near midfield and proceeded to take off for a 59-yard touchdown.
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Entering the playoff game, Penn State recorded 12 interceptions on the season with Rojas snatching two and one from DeLuca.
The Penn State defense would once again come up with another interception, this time stopping SMU’s best field position up to that point. On the 7-yard line, Jennings took the snap and looked to pass, but there was DeLuca as he batted the pass and came up with the interception.
Penn State would turn that pick into an eight play, 75 yard drive that was capped off by a Kaytron Allen 25-yard rushing score to make it 21-0.
