Penn State football’s first college football playoff game in program history got off to an inauspicious start.

After SMU won the throw and elected to defer, Penn State’s offense entered the field at its own 30-yard line following a return by Nick Singleton. Three plays and seven yards of offense later, Riley Thompson took the field to kick the ball to the Mustangs.

While Penn State’s first possession was arguably its worst of the game, SMU’s first drive was arguably its best. The Mustangs marched down the field at their typical fast pace and were eventually stopped at Penn State’s 19-yard line due to a failed fourth-down conversion.

The offense continued to sputter and a pick-six by the defense was the only score in the first quarter. The defense struck again early in the second quarter when Tony Rojas took advantage of another interception by SMU’s Kevin Jennings and took it 60 yards to the end zone.

Five minutes before the end of the first half, however, the running game finally had a breakthrough. After averaging just 2.9 yards per carry on the ground in the first quarter, Kaytron Allen started the running game with a 25-yard score, giving the Nittany Lions a 21-0 lead.

“It took us a little while to get going on offense and especially in the running game, but we did it,” James Franklin said after the game. “(Singleton and Allen) are fast, they’re big and they’re violent.”

Franklin said he saw Singleton’s violent style especially on Penn State’s next drive after the Allen goal. Singleton scored 27 yards on a drive that started at the SMU 38-yard line and ended with a strong fight for the end zone at the 1-yard line.

Despite only scoring two offensive touchdowns at the end of the second quarter, the Nittany Lions took a 28-0 halftime lead. The yards on the ground continued to increase in the second half as Penn State held the ball and maintained its lead while only throwing four passes in the second half.

While the running backs rushed for 189 yards during the game 38-10 defeat of the MustangsBoth players and coaches attributed the success to the wall the offensive line put up throughout the game.

“It starts at the front,” offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki said. “In these games, in this weather and this time of year, you have to win from the front. This is how we will move forward.”

Singleton led the running back room on Saturday with 14 carries for 90 yards and a touchdown, while Allen was second with 70 yards for 11 carries and two touchdowns. Both fullbacks averaged 6.4 yards per carry, something they had only done together twice this season.

The first time the pair had at least 6.4 yards per carry was in the second game of the season against Bowling Green, while the second time came two weeks ago in the Big Ten Championship.

The numbers come as Nick Singleton said he was back to full strength ahead of the Big Ten Championship, and Allen continues to put up consistent numbers from the Nittany Lion’s backfield. On a day where Drew Allar went 13 of 22 for 127 yards and no scores, the running backs stepped up. Being able to lean on other aspects of the game can be crucial, and Allar said the defenses and offense as a whole are peaking at the right time.

“Me and Kaytron always say we have the best backfield in the nation and we stand by it,” Singleton said. “But we have to keep going and keep training hard. Take it one game at a time and keep finding the little things we can get better at.”