Highs & Lows: Grunkemeyer, Dennis-Sutton shine in NYC

By Nate Bauer

Penn State and Clemson played three quarters of bruising football, with the two teams combining for just three field goals between them over the first 45 minutes of the Pinstripe Bowl. But a fourth-quarter offensive outburst by the Nittany Lions provided the lift needed to deliver a 22-10 win.

Led by interim head coach Terry Smith in his final game in the role, Penn State got the season-affirming victory it so desperately wanted. Playing hard to close out the campaign on a four-game winning streak, the Nittany Lions climbed above .500 to finish 7-6 overall.

Highs and lows from the game:

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Dani Dennis-Sutton was one of the few high-profile seniors to suit up for the Nittany Lions on Saturday afternoon, dismissing the opt-out trend and following through with one of his better performances of the season. Playing extensively over all four quarters, he finished with 4 tackles, including a pair of sacks.

PLAY OF THE GAME
Penn State had been nibbling at the edges, unable to break through offensively on a miserably cold afternoon at Yankee Stadium. Early in the fourth quarter, though, the fever finally broke. Finding Trebor Peña on the left hash, redshirt freshman quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer delivered a strike that the senior receiver rewarded with a broken tackle and a burst past Clemson’s chasing secondary to complete a 73-yard touchdown. The scoring play gave Penn State a 15-3 advantage with 12:51 remaining.

BEST PASS
See “Play of the Game.” Grunkemeyer was constrained by the same elements as Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik, and if not for Peña’s huge play, he might have finished with a comparable stat line. Still, the pass was on point, and the play made a massive impact in Penn State’s victory.

BEST RUN
Penn State’s coaches entered the game with an open mind regarding their running back rotation. Among the contenders, redshirt freshman Quinton Martin Jr. was not necessarily tabbed as the top option, but he showed early in the game that he could move the chains. On 20 carries, he finished with a game-high 101 yards rushing.

BEST CATCH
On a day when merely catching the football proved to be a challenge for both teams, Peña bucked the trend with a well-executed 14-yard crosser toward the sideline late in the first half. The third-and-8 completion gave the Nittany Lions a first down.

WORST DROP
Clemson’s Tyler Brown had a sure first down on the Tigers’ first possession of the afternoon. Rolling right on third-and-3, Klubnik tried to hit his receiver in the flat, only to have the sophomore let the ball fall through his hands and to the turf. It was the first drop of a tough afternoon for the Clemson offense.

BEST SACK
Early in the second quarter, Dennis-Sutton was too fast for Klubnik, who dug a hole for himself en route to a 15-yard loss. From a manageable third-and-5, the play forced Clemson into a fourth-and-20 punt. With Clemson fighting to mount a comeback late in the fourth quarter, Dennis-Sutton added his second sack of the day. In a final nod, redshirt freshman safety Vaboue Toure had a fourth-down sack with less than three minutes to play to effectively clinch the win.

BEST HIT
Martin was the recipient on a play he would probably rather forget. His second-and-25 catch on a screen pass from Grunkemeyer was blown up in the backfield when Clemson’s Ashton Hampton met him as the ball arrived.

BEST EFFORT
On an afternoon in which many of Penn State’s best senior performers chose not to participate, Dennis-Sutton was not one of them. He showed up early and often, including a third-and-short stop of Adam Randall that forced Clemson’s second consecutive punt to open the game.

BEST KICK
Since coming up clutch for Penn State in Los Angeles more than a year ago, redshirt sophomore Ryan Barker has made a case for himself as one of the Nittany Lions’ most reliable players. Saturday was no different. He connected on 3 field goals, including a 48-yarder to end the first half and a 43-yarder early in the fourth quarter to give PSU a 9-3 lead. Under the circumstances, the effort was especially impressive.

WORST KICK
The cold, blustery conditions at Yankee Stadium seemed to get to just about everyone, especially the kickers. Clemson punter Jack Smith fell victim in the first quarter when his attempt traveled just 28 yards into Penn State territory. Tigers kicker Nolan Hauser joined the club late in the first half when his 33-yard field goal sailed wide right.

BEST DECISION
The play call itself was fairly straightforward, but Penn State’s decision to fire a third-and-7 pass downfield from Grunkemeyer to Devonte Ross while holding a tenuous 15-10 lead proved game-changing. A run might have kept the clock moving, but the window for a Clemson comeback shrank considerably — then was eliminated altogether — when the Nittany Lions stayed on the field, flipped field position and picked up 35 yards to set up the clinching touchdown.

WORST DECISION
Dabo Swinney will have to provide some clarity on the thinking behind, or execution of, Clemson’s fourth-and-3 fake punt in the opening minutes. Whatever the intent, it failed. Punter Jack Smith lofted a pass toward Ronan Hanafin, who appeared unaware of the fake and was preparing to down what he thought was a punt. The miscue gave Penn State prime field position and eventually led to a chip-shot field goal from Barker for a 3-0 lead.

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