The first-ever College Football Playoff Quarterfinal pitted two of the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl's legacy schools. On one sideline, No. 6 seed Penn State, the Big Ten runner-up whose Fiesta Bowl history dates back to the Bowl's early years. On the other, Mountain West champion and No. 3 seed Boise State, who delivered one of the Fiesta Bowl's – and college football's – most memorable victories in 2007.
Two schools combined for a 10-0 record in the Fiesta Bowl, but all that mattered was a win on New Year's Eve to continue their quest in the College Football Playoff.
Behind a balanced offense and an opportunistic defense, Penn State never trailed in a 31-14 victory over Boise State. The Nittany Lions increased their all-time Fiesta Bowl leading win total to eight, and more importantly advanced to the CFP Semifinal at the Orange Bowl to face No. 7 seed Notre Dame on January 9.
"I want to give Boise a ton of credit. I think it's a really, really good football team. They've been winning there for a long time and Coach (Spencer) Danielson has done a phenomenal job," said Penn State Head Coach James Franklin. "But at the end of the day, we played a complete game, offense, defense and special teams. Complementary football. I'm just proud of our guys."
On offense, Penn State (13-2) was effective on the ground (216 yards rushing) and through the air (171 yards passing, three touchdowns). Defensively, the Nittany Lions corralled the Broncos' rushing attack and forced four turnovers. In comparison, Boise State entered the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl having committed only eight turnovers all season.
All eyes were on Boise State's Ashton Jeanty, who needed 132 yards to break Barry Sanders' FBS single-season record. However, the Heisman Trophy runner-up was limited to only 104 yards on 30 carries against Penn State's stifling run defense, ranked No. 7 nationally. Jeanty finished his impressive season with 2,601 rushing yards, the second-most in FBS history.
"I think we got the point across about the respect that we have for that young man and the type of running back he is," Franklin said of Jeanty. "Even today, I think our defense would say that they have a ton of respect for him and how many tackles he was able to break, how strong he is and the contact balance. He's an impressive guy. But we're pretty good on defense."
After Boise State (12-2) came up empty on the first drive of the game following a missed field goal, Penn State immediately marched down the field for a 72-yard touchdown drive, capped by an 11-yard toss from Drew Allar to Mackey Award winner Tyler Warren. On its next drive, Allar threw a 38-yard touchdown to Omari Evans and Penn State led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Boise State settled in and struck for its first touchdown of the game on its opening drive of the second quarter. Tyler Crowe punched it in from eight yards out and cut the Penn State lead to 14-7.
Trailing 17-7, Boise State struck fast and injected a jolt of energy into the Bronco faithful in early minutes of the third quarter. After forcing a quick Penn State three-and-out, Matt Lauter found himself all alone down the sideline for a 53-yard catch-and-run touchdown from Maddux Madsen. Lauter's score brought the Broncos within 17-14 less than four minutes into the second half. But the Broncos' offense struggled to find their footing the rest of the evening.
Boise State missed a second field goal and threw three interceptions on its final four drives.
The first of the three interceptions proved to be the most costly. After Allar and Warren connected for their second touchdown in response to Lauter's touchdown for a 24-14 Nittany Lions lead, Boise State possessed the ball for more than seven and a half minutes on its ensuing drive.
A 20-yard Prince Strachan touchdown catch was nullified by a penalty, a score that would have made it a one-possession game again. Instead, two plays later, Madsen was intercepted by Zakee Wheatley on the first play of the fourth quarter. Madsen threw two more interceptions in the fourth quarter, with his three interceptions matching his entire season's total entering the game.
"This is a resilient team. We knew we were playing a really good football team in Penn State and they deserve a lot of credit," said Boise State Head Coach Spencer Danielson. "They're very well coached and we knew were going to have to respond. It's not about just capitalizing when things are going well. It's about responding when things don't. We had to respond and keep swinging and our team did that."
Nicholas Singleton closed the book with a punctuating 58-yard touchdown run with 4:54 to play.
Kaytron Allen and Singleton both averaged over seven yards a carry in a dominant Penn State run performance. Allen compiled 134 yards on 17 carries and Singleton notched 87 yards on 12 as the duo made history. Both running backs eclipsed 1,000 yards on the season marking the first time Penn State has a pair of 1,000 yard rushers in the same season.
Not to be overshadowed, Warren earned Offensive Player of the Game honors with a six-catch, 63-yard performance and two touchdowns. Warren became only the second tight end to receive the honor in the Fiesta Bowl's 54-year history, joining Boise State's Kyle Efaw in 2010.
Defensively, Jaylen Reed and Kobe King led the Nittany Lions with eight tackles apiece, but it was Wheatley who was named the Defensive Player of the Game. Along with Wheatley's game-changing interception, he recovered a fumble in the first quarter.
Penn State's latest victory in the first-ever CFP Quarterfinal joins a long line of historic moments in the Fiesta Bowl. Penn State, which notched its school record 13th victory in 2024, also claimed wins in the first Fiesta Bowl to be played on New Year's Day (vs. USC in 1982) and the first created national championship game in college football history (vs. No. 1 Miami in 1987 Fiesta Bowl).
"Thirteen wins, first time in program history. Thirty-four wins over the last three years. Consistency is hard to do and our guys have done a great job at it," said Franklin, who notched his second Fiesta Bowl victory, along with his win in 2017. "8-0 in Fiesta Bowls. Penn State loves the Fiesta Bowl. We'll come every year."
