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GLENDALE, Ariz. – The Penn State Nittany Lions grew weary the last two weeks of hearing about Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty, the nation’s leading rusher.
Offensively, they wanted to show off their running backs, Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton.
Defensively, they wanted to make sure Jeanty didn’t break Barry Sanders’ 36-year NCAA record for rushing yards in a season.
The fourth-ranked Lions accomplished both missions in a convincing 31-14 victory over the ninth-ranked Broncos in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal in the Fiesta Bowl Tuesday night at State Farm Stadium.
Penn State limited Jeanty to 104 yards, well below his 192.1 average. The Heisman Trophy runner-up had just one run of more than 12 yards.
“You do a little bit,” defensive coordinator Tom Allen said when asked if the Lions were tired of the talk about Jeanty. “Our players felt that way. We wanted to make sure they knew how good he was.
“Yeah, you want to be able to stop the guy. We didn’t want him to get the record against us. It wasn’t going to happen against us. Our guys took pride in that. Our goal was to hold him under 100. We were really close.”
Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton combined to rush for 221 yards and became the first pair of Penn State backs to each reach 1,000 yards in a season.
Allen carried 17 times for 134 yards and Singleton ran 12 times for 87 yards, including a game-clinching 58-yard touchdown burst with 4:54 to go.
“They’ve been quiet all week,” running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider said. “They’ve been hearing about Jeanty and his stats all week. I keep telling everybody that I have the two best running backs in the country.
“I know I’m biased but in this game it showed who the two best running backs are.”
Drew Allar threw three touchdown passes, including two to Tyler Warren, and the Lions…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/penn-state-turns-back-boise-114700722.html
Author : Reading Eagle, Pa.
Publish date : 2025-01-01 11:47:00
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