SMU eyes validation, Penn State eyes a breakthrough in College Football Playoff opener

This is not about validation exactly. Still, it kind of is. For SMU and Penn State both.

And each side knows it.

When the 11th-seeded Mustangs (11-2) walk into wintry Beaver Stadium on Saturday to meet the sixth-seeded Nittany Lions (11-2) in the first round of the expanded College Football Playoff, they know there's more than a few people — particularly those that live in Alabama — who think they have no right to be there in the first place.

“I think we feel like not necessarily want to prove doubters wrong," said safety Jonathan McGill, a graduate transfer from Stanford. "But I feel like we want to prove ourselves right more than anything. ... We deserve to be at this stage and on this platform.”

A platform Penn State has finally reached after spending the last decade on the fringe of the playoff conversation but unable — thanks largely to nearly annual pratfalls against Ohio State — to actually butt in.

If the 12-team field had existed from the CFP's inception, the Nittany Lions might have been a fixture. Only, the field was limited to four teams during its first 10 iterations. And despite finishing in the top 12 in the final CFP ranking a half-dozen times before 2024, they never saw “Penn State” pop up on the bracket until the selection committee gave them a home game against a program that's gotten awfully comfortable awfully quickly at upending the status quo.

The Nittany Lions are wary to be sure. They also believe they are primed for a breakthrough that feels long overdue during coach James Franklin's solid if not wildly successful — by Penn State's exacting standards anyway — 11-year tenure.

“Something we always talk about is ‘Win the national championship, get in the playoffs’ and now we’re here,” said defensive end Abdul Carter, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. “We have this opportunity. We got to do everything in our power to make sure we take advantage."

The winner earns a trip to Arizona on New Year's Eve to face Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl, this year a CFP quarterfinal. To get there, the Mustangs will have to survive the elements — temperatures are expected to hover in the mid-20s with the wind chill dipping lower than that — and a massive white-clad crowd eager for catharsis.

“Everybody’s against us,” Mustangs quarterback Kevin Jennings said. “It’s supposed be like 100,000 people there and everybody just booing you. So probably one of the best feelings in the world, just going in and be able to upset a talented team.”

Agent

Carter

If Jennings and the rest of SMU's up-tempo offense wants to pull off a stunner, they will have to do what few have done this fall: stop Carter.

The junior, who moved from outside linebacker to defensive end this season, ranked third in the FBS with 19 1/2 tackles for loss and his 10 sacks tied for the Big Ten lead. While he's not keeping particularly close tabs on what honors come his way, he admitted getting “snubbed” for the Nagurski Award — given annually to the best defensive player in the country — adding more fuel to a fire that's ever-present.

“Did some pushups that night,” Carter said. “Maxed out. I just use as motivation, I try not to get discouraged. I still feel like I’m the best defensive player, but not just defensive player. I feel like I’m the best player in general.”

Punishing Ponies

Lost in the glare Jennings provides is the play of an SMU defense that allows just 20.8 points per game and has racked up 40 sacks, which coach Rhett Lashlee pointed to as proof his Mustangs are more well-rounded than they've been given credit for in some circles.

It helps that the Mustangs are willing to play with physicality, something SMU will need to rely on against the bigger, deeper Nittany Lions and an offense featuring do-everything tight end Tyler Warren.

“We take pride in that,” safety Isaiah Nwokobia said. “Obviously you’re going to have your bangs, your bruises, it’s going to hurt. It’s football, man. But we love it."

Beau's a ‘no go’

Penn State will be without backup quarterback Beau Pribula, who made what he called an “impossible decision" to enter the transfer portal in search of other opportunities in 2025.

Franklin supported Pribula's choice while also bemoaning the timing of the winter transfer portal window, which left the Nittany Lions without a player who had been effective in certain packages designed to maximize his mobility.

Freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer takes over behind starter Drew Allar, though its uncertain whether Grunkemeyer — who has yet to take a snap — will see the field.

“Grunk’s done a really good job, and put himself in a position,” Franklin said. “We have a lot of confidence in him.”

Return trip

This is the second year in a row in the playoff for SMU’s Matt Hibner. He played primarily on special teams the past three seasons at Michigan, but has emerged as a tight end for the Mustangs. The 6-foot-5, 254-pounder has 20 catches for 299 yards and four touchdowns over the past five games.

“We thought he was this kind of a player,” Lashlee said. “We always felt like he was an all-around, every-down player and that he could really help us in the run game where we needed a boost, but also could still make plays."

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AP Sports Writer Stephen Hawkins in Dallas and Associated Press writer Travis Johnson in State College, Pa. contributed to this report.

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Will Graves, The Associated Press