The Fiesta Bowl had been over for more than two hours, and Penn State Nittany Lions defensive tackle Dvon J-Thomas was still circulating through State Farm Stadium in his No. 91 uniform—shoulder pads, football pants, everything but the helmet. He was soaking up every element of the best night of his college career to date.
J-Thomas walked over to the Big Ten Network desk that was set up in the corner of the field to embrace host Dave Revsine and analyst Gerry DiNardo. He bumped fists with stadium security personnel. A random media member with a camera got a fist bump. And just before walking up the tunnel to the Nittany Lions’ locker room, J-Thomas turned and blew kisses with both hands toward the almost empty expanse of the place.
Pure joy.
The 6' 1", 305-pound widebody is a sixth-year senior who has spent the entire time at Penn State. He’s been on 11-win teams, and on a couple mediocre ones. Now, for the first and last time, at the very end of his very long college career, he’s on a College Football Playoff team.
A playoff team that keeps winning. Penn State is 2–0, marching on after dispatching the Boise State Broncos, 31–14, in Glendale, Ariz., on Tuesday night. The Nittany Lions are in the Final Four now—a good team that has gotten some good breaks, and has absolutely no intention of apologizing for them.
Penn State is exactly the program an expanded College Football Playoff was created for. The unusual suspects. Instead of having the Alabama Crimson Tide, Georgia Bulldogs, Ohio State Buckeyes, Michigan Wolverines and Clemson Tigers on repeat, here comes some fresh faces. Here comes what had been Team Almost.
Over and over during coach James Franklin’s 11 seasons, the Nittany Lions have been good but not good enough for the four-team tournament. (So many losses to Ohio State, so many losses to Michigan.) They were continually left out, but would have made the 12-team playoff several times—if it had existed.
Now it does, and Penn State is taking full advantage of it.
Thanks to a seeding format that could be destined to change, the Big Ten runner-up got a blessed path to the Orange Bowl semifinal. Penn State, the No. 6 seed, drew the No. 11 SMU Mustangs in the first round and dispatched them at home, 38–10. Then they got No. 3 seed Boise State, the Mountain West Conference champion whose seeding was a reward for being a conference champion and getting a first-round bye.
In both games, Penn State was a double-digit favorite. And if there is one thing a Franklin team knows how to do, it’s winning as a heavy favorite.
Meanwhile the two teams that defeated the Nittany Lions will knock heads—and knock one of them out—Wednesday in the Rose Bowl quarterfinal. That’s the No. 1 Oregon Ducks, who beat Penn State on a neutral field in the Big Ten title game in December, and No. 8 Ohio State, which beat Penn State in State College, Pa., in November.
In a more sensible format, those two would not be playing an elimination game in the quarterfinals while Penn State sails through an easier draw. But this is what the CFP devised. There will be winners and losers because of it.
And while much of the population and punditry will harp on the format flaw and criticize Penn State’s path, the team’s reaction Tuesday night underscores the excitement of advancing. The jubilation was a striking reminder: The Nittany Lions are new here. It showed, in an endearing way.
Start with the postgame trophy presentation, where there was a problem with one of the postgame confetti cannons. The trajectory was off like a Boise State placekicker. Every time the guy operating the cannon sent a gust of blue-and-white paper slips into the air, they kept falling short of the podium where the Nittany Lions were celebrating.
After some recalibration, the confetti found its mark. Several wisps of it came to rest—and to stick—on Franklin’s sweaty, bald head. It was a comical look, but he grinned and wore it. Nothing was going to spoil the moment.
After the trophy presentation, players came striding to the locker room shouting, “Miamiiiiii,” the next destination. The postgame locker room was wreathed in cigar smoke. The players were gushing when discussing the game.
Asked about limiting Boise State superstar running back Ashton Jeanty to 104 rushing yards and no touchdowns on 30 carries, linebacker Dominic DeLuca delivered this gem: “Being able to get all 11 [defensive players] to the ball. We knew once we got him stopped in the backfield, all 11 were running to the ball, and the f---in’—excuse me—the pursuit would be there. Sorry, I’m kind of on cloud nine right now.”
The only damper in the locker room was the uncertain status of one of Penn State’s two superstar players, defensive end Abdul Carter. He played less than a half against Boise State after suffering an apparent injury to his left arm or shoulder. A Penn State media relations staffer stood in front of Carter’s locker saying he was unavailable to talk as he scooped up his sweats and headed to the training room.
Everywhere else, though, euphoria reigned. Winning a second-round game produced something similar to the reaction of a college basketball team making the Sweet 16 of March Madness. The more a team wins, the more exciting it becomes. That’s an added side effect of an expanded playoff.
“We’ve been close here and there,” running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider said. “We’ve never been here before. You’re cherishing and relishing the moment.”
The next moment will be harder. The opponent in Miamiiiii will be either SEC champion Georgia or one-loss Notre Dame. Penn State might well revert to the underdog role in that one, the kind of big-game showdown that Franklin has lost many times.
The Nittany Lions are still playing because they have a great defense, a powerful running game, an occasionally excellent quarterback and an unstoppable tight end in Tyler Warren (two touchdown catches Tuesday). But they also were aided and abetted by an SMU quarterback meltdown in Round 1 and Boise State’s frequent misfires in scoring territory, including two missed field goals.
The Nittany Lions will have to play better than they did here to reach the national championship game. But at least they have the opportunity.
Even later Tuesday night, after J-Thomas had blown his kisses to the stadium, here came Franklin’s family onto the field—his wife, Fumi, and two daughters, Addy and Shola. They took pictures of each other under the goalpost, then laid down for more photos in the end zone, while James did an interview on the Big Ten Network set.
When that was over, one of his daughters grabbed a souvenir football Franklin was given after the game. She tossed it to her dad, then went out for a pass, maybe 15 yards away. Franklin threw it, but she dropped the pass and fell to the ground with a laugh.
By late Wednesday night, when he knows Penn State’s next opponent, James Franklin will have moved on to semifinal stress. But late Tuesday night, it was time to celebrate a new program milestone on a joyful New Year’s Eve.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Penn State Taking Advantage of Expanded CFP in Fiesta Bowl Rout of Boise State.