UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - No. 6 seed Penn State takes on No. 11 seed SMU in a College Football Playoff First Round game at Beaver Stadium on Saturday, December 21. Kickoff is set for noon on TNT/MAX.
SERIES HISTORY: Penn State meets SMU for the third time in program history and the second time in a postseason game. The Nittany Lions and Mustangs tied 13-13 in the 1948 Cotton Bowl. In the last matchup, in 1978, Penn State won 26-21. Matt Bahr hit four field goals, all in the first half, while Scott Fitzkee scored on a 16-yard reception and Matt Suhey found the end zone on a 3-yard run.
CARTER, WARREN COLLECT ALL-AMERICA HONORS: Defensive end Abdul Carter and tight end Tyler Warren became Penn State's 103rd and 104th players to selected as a first-team All-American by an NCAA-recognized outlet. With first-team honors by the AFCA, Associated Press and Walter Camp Football Foundation, Carter has qualified to be Penn State's 45th consensus All-American. Warren earned second-team accolades by the AFCA, AP and Walter Camp Football Foundation. Under head coach James Franklin, PSU has earned 18 All-American selections by 16 players and has multiple All-American selections in each of the last four seasons.
WARREN WINS MACKEY AWARD: Tyler Warren was announced as the John Mackey Award winner, the first Nittany Lion to ever win the award. The Mackey Award recognizes the top tight end in college football. Among FBS tight ends in 2024, Warren is tied for first in total touchdowns (10; 1st in Power Four) and ranks second in receiving yards (1,062; 1st), receiving yards per game (81.7; 1st) and yards per reception (12.1; 1st, min. 70 catches) and third in receptions (88; 1st). He owns PSU tight end career records for receptions (137), receiving yards (1,668), receiving touchdowns (17) and 100-yard receiving games (5) and PSU and Big Ten tight end season records for receptions (88) and receiving yards (1,062).
THE OPPOSITION: SMU enters the College Football Playoff as the No. 11 seed with an 11-2 overall record. The Mustangs went 8-0 in the ACC and fell 34-31 against Clemson in the ACC Championship. Kevin Jennings threw for 304 yards and three touchdowns, while adding a rushing touchdown. Brashard Smith added 113 rushing yards.
BY THE NUMBERS
1,062 - Warren broke the Big Ten tight end season record with 1,062 receiving yards.
45th - With first-team All-America selections by the AFCA, AP and Walter Camp Football Foundation, Abdul Carter has qualified to be PSU's 45th consensus All-American.
Top 12 - Penn State finished in the Top 12 of the CFP rankings for the seventh time, tied fourth-most among FBS teams.
1st - Tyler Warren became Penn State's first winnerof the Mackey Award, while Nick Dawkins is PSU's first recipient of the Wuerffel Trophy.
SMU SCOUTING REPORT
- Rhett Lashlee is in his third season as head coach at SMU.
- He owns a 29-11 record at SMU and was named ACC Coach of the Year in 2024.
- In his first two seasons at SMU, Lashlee led the Mustangs to the New Mexico Bowl in 2022 and the Fenway Bowl in 2023.
- SMU is 11-2 overall and went 8-0 in the ACC.
- In their first season as a member of the ACC, the Mustangs reached the conference championship game, falling 34-31 against Clemson.
- SMU rallied back from a 24-7 halftime deficit to tie the game at 31-31 with 16 seconds left.
- Kevin Jennings threw for 304 yards and three touchdowns, while adding a rushing touchdown.
- SMU ranks sixth in the country in scoring offense (38.5) and 20th in total offense (443.1).
- Jennings has completed 66 percent of his passes for 3,050 yards and 22 touchdowns, while adding five rushing scores.
- RB Brashard Smith, an AFCA All-America second-team and All-ACC first-team selection, owns 1,270 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns.
- The Mustangs rank 28th in the country in scoring defense (20.8), 28th in total defense (326.1) and fourth in rushing defense (93.4).
- They are also fifth in the nation with five defensive touchdowns and 11th in sacks per game (3.08).
- DT Jared Harrison-Hunte and S Isaiah Nwokobia were tabbed first-team All-ACC.
- Harrison-Hunte owns eight tackles for loss and six sacks this season.
- Nwokobia has tallied 96 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, three interceptions and three pass breakups.
- LB Kobe Wilson leads the team with 110 tackles to go with six tackles for loss and three sacks.
OREGON NOTES
- Penn State is now 3-2 all-time against Oregon.
- Penn State is 1-1 in Big Ten Championship Games.
- The Nittany Lions are 4-13 all-time against opponents ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll.
- In the first half, Penn State and Oregon broke the Big Ten Championship game record with a combined 55 points, bettering the 52 points by Nebraska and Wisconsin in 2012.
- Penn State’s 6 play, 97-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter is the longest scoring drive in Big Ten Championship game history based on yards.
- The 82 combined points for Penn State and Oregon are the second-most in a Big Ten Championship game behind the 101 points by Wisconsin and Nebraska in 2012.
- The Nittany Lions gained 518 total yards. Oregon entered the game allowing 283.8 total yards per game.
- The Nittany Lions rushed for 292 yards. Oregon entered the game allowing 112.3 rushing yards per game.
- RB Kaytron Allen (124) and RB Nicholas Singleton (105) both rushed for over 100 yards in the same game for the third time in their career.
- On a 7-yard catch in the first quarter, TE Tyler Warren broke the Big Ten record for season receiving yards by a tight end, topping Wisconsin’s Travis Beckum’s 982 receiving yards in in 2007.
- On a 28-yard reception in the first quarter, Warren became the fifth Nittany Lion (seventh occasion) to go over 1,000 receiving yards in a season.
PENN STATE EARNS 54TH POSTSEASON APPEARANCE
- Penn State is making its 54th postseason appearance, including bowl and playoff appearances, tied-ninth all-time.
- Head Coach James Franklin has guided his teams to a postseason appearance 13 times (3 at Vanderbilt; 10 at Penn State).
- Penn State’s 31 bowl victories are tied-fourth nationally and lead all Big Ten schools.
- The Nittany Lions’ 60.4 winning percentage in bowl games (31-20-2 record) is No. 9 nationally among teams with at least 20 bowl appearances.
- Penn State has played in 16 different bowl games and has played in each of the New Year's Six bowls.
- Penn State made its first postseason appearance in 1923 when it traveled across the country to face USC in the Rose Bowl Game to cap off the 1922 season.
WARREN EARNS MACKEY AWARD, HEISMAN VOTES
- Penn State senior tight end Tyler Warren became the Nittany Lions' first ever recipient of the John Mackey Award, given to the nation's top tight end.
- He also finished seventh in the Heisman Trophy voting, the highest finish by any FBS tight end since Notre Dame's Ken MacAfee in 1977.
- Since 1942, Warren is one of seven tight ends to finish among the Heisman Top 7, joining UCLA's Burr Baldwin (7th; 1946), Stanford's Bill McColl (4th; 1951), Navy's Ron Beagle (7th; 1955), Michigan's Ron Kramer (6th; 1956), Wisconsin's Pat Richter (6th; 1962), Penn State's Ted Kwalick (4th; 1968) and Notre Dame's Ken MacAfee (3rd; 1977).
- Among FBS tight ends in 2024, Warren is tied for first in total touchdowns (10; 1st in Power Four) and ranks second in receiving yards (1,062; 1st), receiving yards per game (81.7; 1st) and yards per reception (12.1; 1st, min. 70 catches), third in receptions (88; 1st) and 100-yard receiving games (4; 2nd) and tied for fourth in receiving touchdowns (6; T-1st).
- He ranks second among FBS tight ends with 30 receptions of 15+ yards this season and ranks first in percentage of catches for first downs (66%) among FBS tight ends with 55+ catches.
- Warren ranks first among FBS tight ends with 14 red zone receptions, while ranking second in 10+ yard receptions (47; 1st in P4) and third in 25+ yard receptions (9; t-1st).
- Warren has set Penn State career tight end records for receptions (137), receiving yards (1,668), receiving touchdowns (17) and 100-yard receiving games (5).
- He owns Penn State and Big Ten season tight end records for receptions (88) and receiving yards (1,062).
DAWKINS COLLECTS WUERFFEL TROPHY
- Penn State redshirt senior offensive lineman Nick Dawkins garnered the AllState Wuerffel Trophy.
- The Allstate Wuerffel Trophy, named after Danny Wuerffel, 1996 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback at Florida, is considered college football’s premier award for community service.
- Dawkins became the first Nittany Lion in program history to earn the Wuerffel Trophy.
- He founded the Dawkins Family Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to empowering communities through youth engagement. The foundation has awarded three scholarships to high school seniors and collaborates with the Lehigh Valley YMCA and Big Brothers Big Sisters to provide book bags for children and teens in need.
- Dawkins has interned with the YMCA of Centre County, where he developed a multi-sports camp and an Olympic Games camp as part of the YMCA’s summer youth programming. Additionally, he volunteers at Parkland sports camps.
- He is the president of Penn State’s chapter of Uplifting Athletes, which raises funds for rare disease research, notably through its “Lift for Life” workout competition each June.
- Dawkins also serves on the board of Devon Still’s “Still Strong Foundation”, which supports childhood cancer initiatives.
- Last year, Dawkins chaired the diversity, equity, and inclusion committee for Penn State’s student-athlete advisory committee.