Penn State linebacker Dominic DeLuca returns an interception for a touchdown while being chased by SMU running back Brashard Smith during the first half in the first round of the NCAA College Football Playoff, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger)
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — In a time of incessant change, Penn State linebacker Dominic DeLuca is a throwback.
The former walk-on's team might be one too.
DeLuca was guaranteed nothing when he arrived on campus nearly four years ago without the promise of a scholarship or much of anything else. He poured himself into his craft, carving out a niche as a special teams ace while working his way into the rotation on a defense that considers itself the best in the country.
With sixth-seeded Penn State off to a somewhat jittery start on Saturday against SMU in the first round of the College Football Playoff, the Nittany Lions needed a jolt.
DeLuca provided two.
The first came on a pick-6 that gave Penn State an early lead. The second cut short an SMU drive when the Mustangs were threatening to get back in the game and set the stage for a 38-10 blowout that pushed the Nittany Lions (12-2) into the CFP quarterfinals against third-seeded Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year's Eve.
“Dom is just a baller,” Penn State head coach James Franklin said after picking up his 100th victory with the school.
One whose journey may become increasingly rare when the NCAA trims roster sizes to 105 starting next season.
“It breaks my heart a little bit that maybe Dom isn’t here if these rules were in place (when he arrived),” Franklin said.
The old ones still exist, for now. And Franklin used them to build a team that now has as many wins as any of the 130 editions that came before it.
“We're a college football program that everybody should be proud of because those guys are doing it the right way at a time when it’s more challenging than it’s ever been,” he said.
Linebacker Tony Rojas added a pick-6 of his own and Penn State shut down Kevin Jennings and the high-powered Mustangs (11-3), whose breakout season ended amid a flurry of mistakes and miscues and did little to shed the notion — particularly by those in Alabama — that the ACC runners-up didn't necessarily deserve a spot in the 12-team field in the first place.
“I can't control the debate,” SMU coach Rhett Lashlee said. “I can't control what people are going to say. We got in. Today we got beat. We got beat soundly by a very good team.”
Two weeks after getting pushed around by Oregon in the Big Ten title game, Penn State responded by forcing three turnovers and collecting three sacks while holding the Mustangs to season lows in points and yards (253).
“We wanted to put on a defensive performance like we did,” Penn State defensive tackle Dvon J-Thomas said. “Two pick-6s. Stopped the run. Stopped the pass game. We truly shut everything down.”
Jennings, whose electrifying play fueled SMU’s undefeated regular-season sprint through the ACC, finished 20 of 36 for 195 yards with a late touchdown and three picks. He began the day by missing a wide-open tight end Matthew Hibner at the goal line to end the Mustangs’ promising opening possession, and things only got worse from there, for Jennings and everyone else who made the nearly 1,400-mile trip from Dallas to central Pennsylvania.
His flip to Brashard Smith on SMU’s second drive sailed over the running back’s head and into the arms of an awaiting DeLuca, who raced 23 yards to the end zone to give Penn State the lead. Early in the second quarter, Jennings scrambled to his right and threw against his body into triple coverage. Rojas snagged it and weaved 59 yards to stake the Nittany Lions to a 14-0 lead they never came close to squandering.
Kaytron Allen ran for two scores and Nick Singleton added another for the Nittany Lions, a bruising 1-yard gash late in the first half that put Penn State up 28-0. Singleton punctuated it by jawing with Franklin on the sideline.
“He screamed at me and used some words ... and said ‘I’m a violent man,’” Franklin said. “I kind of agreed with him.”
Drew Allar completed 13 of 22 passes for 127 yards while playing every meaningful snap after backup Beau Pribula — who occasionally and effectively spelled Allar throughout the year — entered the transfer portal earlier this week.
And unlike the ACC title game against Clemson — when the Mustangs roared all the way back from a 17-point second-half deficit to tie it before falling on the final snap — this time there would be no rally.
The last two quarters were mostly a chance for the crowd of over 106,000 that braved temperatures in the low-20s with a pretty steady breeze to soak in the kind of big game victory that hasn't happened quite as often as they would like during James Franklin's largely successful 11-year tenure.
With one test now passed, another big one awaits in the desert on the last day of 2024.
Takeaways
SMU: The Mustangs' historic first season in the ACC after coming over from the American Athletic ended with a disappointing thud. If Jennings hits Hibner for a score, maybe things change. They'll have all offseason to think about it.
Penn State: Singleton and Allen believe they are the best running back combination in the country. They certainly looked it while teaming up to run for 160 yards and three scores.
Up next
SMU: will try to back up their audacious ACC debut next fall, when their conference slate includes games against Miami, Clemson and Louisville.
Penn State: Will try to win a 13th game for the first time in the program's 131-year history when it heads to the Fiesta Bowl, a game in which the Nittany Lions are 7-0 all-time.
