STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Dominic DeLuca and Tony Rojas returned interceptions for touchdowns and Penn State toyed with mistake-prone SMU in a 38-10 victory on Saturday in the opening round of the College Football Playoff.
The sixth-seeded Nittany Lions (12-2) advanced to face third-seeded Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year's Eve by hounding Mustangs quarterback Kevin Jennings into three turnovers, including a pair of ill-thrown floaters in the first half DeLuca and Rojas converted into Pick-6s that sent the white-out crowd at wintry Beaver Stadium into a frenzy and SMU (11-3) into a funk from which it never recovered.
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Penn State linebacker Tony Rojas celebrates an interception for a touchdown with Abdul Carter against SMU during the first half in the first round of the NCAA College Football Playoff, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger)
SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings (7) throws a pass while being pressured by Penn State defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton (33) during the first half in the first round of the College Football Playoff, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger)
Penn State linebacker Dominic DeLuca celebrates an interception for a touchdown with head coach James Franklin against SMU during the first half in the first round of the NCAA College Football Playoff, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger)
Penn State linebacker Dominic DeLuca celebrates an interception for a touchdown against SMU during the first half in the first round of the NCAA College Football Playoff, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger)
Penn State linebacker Dominic DeLuca returns an interception for a touchdown while being chased by SMU running back Brashard Smith during the first half in the first round of the NCAA College Football Playoff, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger)
Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen ran for scores for the Nittany Lions. Drew Allar completed 13 of 22 passes for 127 yards while playing every meaningful snap after backup Beau Pribula — who occasionally and effectively spelled Allar throughout the year — entered the transfer portal earlier this week.
Jennings, whose electrifying play fueled SMU's undefeated regular-season sprint through the ACC, finished 20 of 36 for 195 yards with a late touchdown and three picks. He began the day by missing a wide-open tight end Matthew Hibner at the goal line to end the Mustangs' promising opening possession, and things only got worse from there.
His flip to Brashard Smith on SMU's second drive sailed over the running back's head and into the arms of an awaiting DeLuca, who raced 23 yards to the end zone to give Penn State the lead. Early in the second quarter, Jennings scrambled to his right and threw against his body into triple coverage. Rojas snagged it and weaved 59 yards to stake the Nittany Lions to a 14-0 lead they never came close to squandering.
The defense's early strike gave Allar and Penn State's running game time to get settled. Allen finished off a nine-play 75-yard drive with a 25-yard touchdown dash to make it 21-0. Singleton then bulled over from a yard out late in the first half to make it 28-0.
And unlike the ACC title game against Clemson — when the Mustangs roared all the way back from a 17-point second-half deficit to tie it before falling on the final snap — this time there would be no rally.
The last two quarters were mostly a chance for the crowd of over 106,000 that braved temperatures in the low-20s with a pretty steady breeze to soak in the kind of big game victory that hasn't happened quite as often as they would like during James Franklin's largely successful 11-year tenure.
With one test now passed, another big one awaits in the desert on the last day of 2024.
SMU: Just like 10th-seeded Indiana on Friday, the Mustangs didn't do much to validate the CFP selection committee's decision to put them in over bluebloods Alabama and Miami. SMU's historic first season in the ACC after coming over from the American Athletic ended with a disappointing thud.
Penn State: The defense bounced back from a shaky performance in the Big Ten title game against Oregon by throttling an offense that came in averaging 38.5 points and 443 yards a game.
SMU: will try to back up their audacious ACC debut next fall, when their conference slate includes games against Miami, Clemson and Louisville.
Penn State: Will try to win a 13th game for the first time in the program's 131-year history when it heads to the Fiesta Bowl, a game in which the Nittany Lions are 7-0 all-time.
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Penn State linebacker Tony Rojas celebrates an interception for a touchdown with Abdul Carter against SMU during the first half in the first round of the NCAA College Football Playoff, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger)
SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings (7) throws a pass while being pressured by Penn State defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton (33) during the first half in the first round of the College Football Playoff, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger)
Penn State linebacker Dominic DeLuca celebrates an interception for a touchdown with head coach James Franklin against SMU during the first half in the first round of the NCAA College Football Playoff, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger)
Penn State linebacker Dominic DeLuca celebrates an interception for a touchdown against SMU during the first half in the first round of the NCAA College Football Playoff, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger)
Penn State linebacker Dominic DeLuca returns an interception for a touchdown while being chased by SMU running back Brashard Smith during the first half in the first round of the NCAA College Football Playoff, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger)
Federal officials have joined with the state of Arizona to begin fulfilling a settlement agreement that was reached with the Hopi Tribe nearly three decades ago, marking what tribal officials described as a historic day.
Government attorneys filed condemnation documents on Friday to transfer dozens of square miles of state land into trust for the Hopi. The tribe will compensate the state nearly $4 million for more than 31 square miles (80 square kilometers) of land near Winslow.
It could mark the first of more transfers of land into trust to help eliminate the checkerboard of ownership that characterizes much of the lands used by the tribe for ranching in northeastern Arizona.
Friday's filing was born out of the 1996 passage of the Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute Settlement Act, which ratified an agreement between the Hopi and federal government that set conditions for taking land into trust for the tribe.
The wrangling over land in northeastern Arizona has been bitter, pitting the Hopi and the Navajo Nation against one another for generations. The federal government failed in its attempt to have the tribes share land and after years of escalating conflict, Congress in 1974 divided the area and ordered tribal members to leave each other's reservations.
The resulting borders meant the Navajo Nation — the country’s largest reservation at 27,000 square miles — surrounded the 2,500-square-mile Hopi reservation.
Since the 1996 settlement, the Hopi Tribe has purchased private land and sought to take neighboring state lands into trust in hopes of consolidating property for the tribe's benefit.
There have been many roadblocks along the way, including in 2018 when the tribe sought the support of local governments in northern Arizona to back a proposed transfer for land south of the busy Interstate 40 corridor. Those efforts were stymied by the inclusion of national forest tracts in the Flagstaff area.
Hopi Chairman Tim Nuvangyaoma said in a statement Friday that he was grateful for everyone who worked to make the condemnation filing a reality and that the timing for this historic moment was fitting.
“Within Hopi, it is our time of the soyal’ang ceremony — the start of the New Year and the revitalization of life,” he said.
Gov. Katie Hobbs, who first visited the Hopi reservation in 2023, acknowledged that the tribe has been fighting for its rights for decades and that politicians of the past had refused to hear the voices of tribal communities.
“Every Arizonan should have an opportunity to thrive and a space to call home, and this agreement takes us one step closer to making those Arizona values a reality,” she said Friday.
In November, the Navajo Nation signed a warranty deed to take into trust a parcel of land near Flagstaff as part of the federal government’s outstanding obligations to support members of that tribe who were forcibly relocated as a result of the Navajo-Hopi dispute.
Navajo leaders are considering building a casino on the newly acquired land, saying such a project would provide significant economic benefits.
For the Hopi, bringing more land into trust also holds the promise of more economic opportunities. The state lands near Winslow that are part of the condemnation filing are interspersed with Hopi-owned lands and have long been leased to the tribe for ranching and agricultural purposes, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
Federal officials said Friday's filing is the first of an anticipated series of condemnation actions that ultimately would result in the transfer of more than 170 square miles (440 square kilometers) of state land into trust for the Hopi Tribe.
FILE - An assortment of corn and seeds and a lightning rod are displayed as part of an agriculture tour on the Hopi reservation in northern Arizona on Jan. 23, 2010. (AP Photo/Felicia Fonseca, File)