Penn State made a decisive early move against SMU last week, leaving its offense on the field for a pivotal 4th-and-1 attempt from its own 19-yard line. The conversion fell short, primarily because of a misplayed snap, and the Mustangs took over down 14-0 in prime position to reframe the game.

No. 6 seed Penn State used two first-half interception returns for touchdowns to jumpstart a 38-10 blowout of No. 11 seed SMU in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Saturday at Beaver Stadium. The Nittany Lions will move on to meet No. 3 seed Boise State in the first Playoff quarterfinal at the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Eve.

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SportsLine's model simulated Saturday's Penn State Nittany Lions vs. SMU Mustangs College Football Playoff first round matchup 10,000 times

Beaver Stadium is one of the toughest places to play in around the entirety of college football so the Mustangs will have their hands full. SMU will need to control the crowd before it gets to be too late if they want any chance of pulling the upset.

For the first time in program history, Penn State is moving on in the College Football Playoff. The (6) Nittany Lions punched their ticket to a showdown against (3) Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl quarterfinal on Dec. 31 with a dominant 38-10 win against (11) SMU on Saturday.

This ever-improving combination figures to be a deciding point in Tuesday's Fiesta Bowl playoff game against the Boise State Broncos. While the Group of 5 Broncos own one of the top pass-rushing defenses in the nation (51 sacks in 13 games) they haven't faced anything like the Penn State run game − at least since a September loss to Oregon.