Penn State Shut Down Ashton Jeanty. Then Its Backs Dominated the Fiesta Bowl

After a week of relentless talk about the Boise State running back, the Nittany Lions were inspired on both sides of the ball.

Penn State Nittany Lions defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton (33) celebrates his tackle of Boise State Broncos running back Ashton Jeanty (2) during the Fiesta Bowl. / Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

GLENDALE, Ariz. | Ja'Juan Seider, Penn State's running backs coach for seven years, sat in the Nittany Lions' smoky Fiesta Bowl locker room (from the celebratory cigars) next to Kaytron Allen, Nicholas Singleton and the sizable chips on their shoulders.

"You hear it," Seider said late Tuesday night, moments before 2025 would arrive in State College. "Every picture, every graphic this week was of [Boise State running back Ashton] Jeanty. And the kid was the Heisman runnerup, so he deserved that. But I’ve got two guys who are super talented and to me as talented as him, if not better. And so you get in these games, you’ve got an opportunity to prove it. And I think the work proved itself."

At the same time, Tom Allen, Penn State's first-year defensive coordinator, stood in the middle of the locker room after the Nittany Lions' 31-14 win over Boise State. Allen said his defense was weary of hearing from him all week about Jeanty as well. But Allen relentlessly delivered them a directive. Jeanty needed 132 yards Tuesday night to break Barry Sanders' single-season college football rushing record. Not tonight, Allen told the Nittany Lions before the game.

"He has earned our respect, and we didn’t want that to be diminished," Allen said. "But you want to be able to stop the guy. We didn’t want him to get the record against us. It wasn’t going to happen against us. That was our mindset, and our guys took pride in that. Our goal was to hold him under a hundred [yards], and we were really, really close."

For Penn State, Jeanty and the potential record became a source of inspiration, instigation and occasional irritation all week as it prepared for the Fiesta Bowl. Jeanty won the Nittany Lions' praise, respect and admiration in film study, practice and interviews. But how Jeanty earned a priority spot in Penn State's collective approach on both sides of the ball was fascinating.

First, Penn State's defense insisted it would not allow Jeanty to rush for the 132 yards he needed to gain to break Sanders' historic mark of 2,628 yards in 1998. Allen set a hard cap at 100. Jeanty finished with 104 yards and no touchdowns on 30 carries. "We were really, really close," Allen said.

Added safety Zakee Wheatley, who had an interception and recovered a Jeanty fumble, "in terms of the record and 130 yards, that was a big motivation."

Second, Penn State's running backs felt just a bit slighted by the soft-focus attention they received before the game. Boise State coach Spencer Danielson certainly raved about Singleton and Allen, but Seider wasn't sure anyone outside the sidelines was paying attention. Ultimately, Allen had the game Jeanty wanted (17 carries, 134 yards), and Singleton slammed the door with a 58-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Allen and Singleton totaled 221 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries, averaged 7.6 yards per attempt and combined for six carries of 10+ yards. In the process, they became the first pair of Penn State running backs to top 1,000 yards in the same season (albeit in 15 games), And they continued making their case, as Singleton said on the field after the game, as the "best duo in the nation."

"They played with passion, they played like pros, that’s what they are, and it’s time to starting treating them like that," Seider said. "I’m not saying that just because I coach them. These two dudes are special. You take them for granted because they’re still here and they play together. If you put these guys in any other offense where they’re the feature back, we’d be talking about them the same way [as Jeanty]."

Singleton and Allen have been on a postseason tear, combining for 610 yards in Penn State's games vs. Oregon and SMU. Allen has been particularly nasty, producing two of his best games in the postseason. He rushed for 124 against Oregon in the Big Ten title game and has 328 in three postseason games. And he should have 378. Allen had a 50-yard burst, which would have been his longest run of the year, called back by a penalty.

"He was on a mission," Seider said. "They both were. We heard it all week, and they were the guys who weren’t talked about much all week because of Jeanty — and deservedly so. The kid had a hell of a year. I wish that run that got called back for Kaytron had counted because, if you talk about signature runs in big games, that was one of those special moments. Nick had one in the [2023] Rose Bowl, Journey Brown had one in 2019 in the Cotton Bowl and Kaytron had that. For that to be taken away, you wish he would have had it."

“Best duo in the nation,” Penn State’s Nick Singleton says after the Fiesta Bowl.

“Going to Miami,” RB coach Ja’Juan Seider adds. pic.twitter.com/42FXtwXTHV

— Mark Wogenrich (@MarkWogenrich) January 1, 2025

Penn State's defense didn't wish for anything, except perhaps a healthy Abdul Carter. Allen said he built a unique role for Carter into the gameplan, one that moved the Big Ten's defensive player around around to get him closer to the football. But Allen also had what he called a "Plan B" prepared in case something happened to Carter. He expected fatigue, not an injury, which ocurred in the second quarter. Carter spent the second half pacing the sideline.

"Plan B" included moving linebacker Dom DeLuca into a role similar to Carter's, relying on experienced defensive ends Amin Vanover and Smith Vilbert and playing true freshman Max Granville situationally. The plan largely worked. Jeanty didn't break a run longer than 15 yards until his 21st carry of the game. He willed himself to 104 yards but averaged a season-low 3.5 per carry. Penn State held Jeanty without a touchdown for just the second time this season and forced him to fumble twice for the first time this year (he lost one).

Most important, Penn State didn't permit him the record. After the game, Penn State coach James Franklin was asked how his defense managed to "sort of corral" Jeanty. Franklin leaned into the answer.

"I think we did corral him. Not 'sort of.' I think we did corral him," Franklin said. "They got some yards there at the end. And I think defensively, our team was sick of me talking about him. I think we got the point across about the respect that we have for that young man and the type of running back he is. Even today, I think our defense would say they have a ton of respect for him and how many tackles he was able to break and how strong he is and the contact balance. He's an impressive guy, but we're pretty good on defense."

Dennis-Sutton, who had 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack, said he could sense Allen's gameplan working against Jeanty in the first quarter. The back had four yards on his first three carries and 20 in the first quarter. Everything Allen preached all week was happening.

"I feel like we can do that against anybody," Dennis-Sutton said. "Respectfully, he’s a great running back, but I feel like we’re Penn State. Our D-line, we take over games. I think we had a great gameplan, but I feel like we can do that in any game when we put our minds to it."

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