BRONX, New York — Penn State and Clemson, two teams that entered the season with national championship aspirations, finished the year on opposite sidelines at the Pinstripe Bowl on Saturday afternoon.
Both dealing with their fair share of opt outs, the remaining Nittany Lions and Tigers participated in a low-scoring affair on a makeshift field at Yankee Stadium with snow banks behind each end zone and a Grinch mascot roaming the sidelines.
What started as a close battle began tilting in Penn State’s favor as the game dragged on, with the Nittany Lions wearing down a depleted Tiger squad and pulling away late for a 22-10 win, the lowest point total in Pinstripe Bowl history.
With the victory, Penn State extended its win streak to four games to close out a tumultuous season, giving interim head coach Terry Smith a winning record and the Big Ten a ninth consecutive victory over the ACC in the game.
How it happened
Clemson received the ball first and had an unceremonious opening drive, going three-and-out before attempting a botched fake punt to turn the ball over on downs. With good field position, Penn State drove to the Tigers’ doorstep but was turned away, settling for a 22-yard field goal from Ryan Barker.
Clemson remained committed to the passing game — which has been its strength all season — but didn’t find early results. Quarterback Cade Klubnik was just 6-for-12 for 39 yards through four drives, with a dropped would-be-interception from safety Dejuan Lane. Despite the frigid conditions, they ran just four times in that span for five yards.
With Nick Singleton opting out and Kaytron Allen not playing after being listed as questionable on the pregame availability report, Corey Smith earned the start and Quinton Martin Jr. cycled in. They moved the ball effectively, opening up the passing attack based around play action.
“You kind of saw a glimpse of what he was as a player,” quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer said of Martin. “I mean, we saw it in practice, you know, just with how shifty he is. And I think one of the best things he did today was he got downhill a lot when we needed him to … I thought that’s where he shined today, is when when we needed five yards, he was going to get them.”
The Nittany Lions made a clear attempt to get tight end Andrew Rappleyea involved in the passing game, with multiple early targets, however his longest receptions — an impressive contested catch — was called back for an illegal motion penalty.
Trailing by a field goal, Klubnik scrambled and hit wide receiver T.J. Moore in stride for a 44-yard gain with seven minutes remaining in the second quarter, nearly doubling the team’s yardage in one quick strike. The Tigers couldn’t capitalize, with kicker Nolan Hauser’s boot sailing wide right and over the centerfield wall.
Hauser made up for the miss on Clemson’s next drive, knocking in a 48-yard try to even the score with under a minute until halftime.
However, Penn State responded quickly to regain the lead, marching into Tiger territory with an efficient drive, including a pair of completions to wide receiver Devonte Ross. Barker put the Nittany Lions back ahead 6-3 with a 48-yard bomb of his own as time expired at the end of the half.
Coming out of the break, the Nittany Lions surged downfield, but the drive ended on fourth-and-4 when Grunkemeyer’s pass slipped through wide receiver Devonte Ross’ hands, giving the ball to the Tigers.
“As the game went on, they got calloused up and got better and better,” interim head coach Terry Smith said. “A game like today where it’s very cold outside and every hit hurts to the soul, the core of your body, our guys wore them down and eventually they succumbed to it.”
After forcing a punt, Penn State maintained the pressure, pounding the rock into an increasingly depleted Clemson defense. Martin surpassed Smith in touches in the third quarter, with six carries on a drive resulting in another field goal.
After forcing a three-and-out, Trebor Peña extended the lead with a 73-yard touchdown strike, stepping out of a tackle and outracing pursuers to the end zone as Penn State opened up a 15-3 lead after a failed two-point conversion with 12:51 remaining.
The Tigers responded by mounting a 10-play, 65-yard drive, capped off with a rushing touchdown from Adam Randall to pull within 15-10.
The scoring surge continued, as Grunkemeyer led the offense downfield for another score, capped off with an 11-yard pass to Rappleyea. After a heavy ground attack to begin the game, the passing prowess allowed the Nittany Lions to pull away 22-10 with five minutes left in the game.
The Tigers’ final effort was stopped, as safety Vaboue Toure got home on a gutsy fourth-down blitz call from interim defensive coordinator Anthony Poindexter, putting the ball back in the hands of the offense to close out the game.
“Coach Poindexter did an amazing job getting these guys ready, he limited the pass game, completely shut down the run game,” Smith said. “He’s a great leader of men … he’s one of the locker room favorites.”
Team Leaders
Grunkemeyer was 23-34 for a career-high 262 yards and two touchdowns to cap off a season that saw the redshirt freshman thrust into the starting role following Drew Allar’s injury.
Martin made the most of his first starring turn at running back this season with his first career 100-yard rushing game. The redshirt freshman carried 20 times for 101 yards.
Peña and Ross concluded their sole seasons as Nittany Lions on a high note. Peña caught five passes for 100 yards and a score, while Ross had eight catches for 84.
In his final game in the blue and white, Dani Dennis-Sutton had two sacks.
Barker was three of three on field goal attempts to finish 18-19 on the year
Penn State outgained Clemson 397 to 236.
