Confetti & camaraderie: How Penn State earned respect on a national stage — and isn’t finished
Dvon J-Thomas stood in the corner of Penn State’s locker room, cigar smoke still lingering in the air, with a piece of blue confetti resting neatly on top of his hair.
The defensive tackle didn’t break his smile once as he answered question after question Tuesday night.
It was hard to blame J-Thomas for his unbridled joy. He and his team had just defeated Boise State in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal in the Fiesta Bowl, 31-14, to advance to the semifinal.
And he’s been around for a while now, taking part in his sixth season as a Nittany Lion, with the career lows often outweighing the highs when it mattered most. But this team— and this season — is different.
And for J-Thomas, specifically, it’s a stark contrast. Just last season he was as emotional as any player when the Nittany Lions fell to Michigan in November, washing away any hope they had of making the playoff. Tears ran down his face as he walked off the Beaver Stadium field that day, facing the reality that he may never reach what he aspired to do at Penn State.
Just over a year later, there he stood. Confetti in hair, smile on face, beaming over the group he shared the locker room with.
“The brotherhood, the bond,” J-Thomas said. “In years past, we’ve had great players all around. But it’s one thing to have incredible players, but it’s another thing to have an incredible team. And all around we play complementary football.”
For all of the iterations of Penn State teams that J-Thomas has seen, Terry Smith has seen more. The PSU associate head coach and cornerbacks coach spent five seasons as a wide receiver with the program from 1987-1991 and is in his 11th as an assistant coach.
But even he knows there’s something special going on with this team. He stood with his cornerbacks in the locker room to pose for a photo after they hauled in an interception and helped stifle Ashton Jeanty, the best running back in the country. He laughed with them for another moment before explaining what this group has.
“Just look around,” Smith said. “They love themselves a different way. They enjoy the game. They enjoy the process. They just play together. And on every given night, it’s a different group that shines and steps forward and delivers. And we don’t point fingers, we just figure out solutions and play to the end.”
Jeanty, this time, was on the wrong end of one of those groups stepping forward. The nation’s leading rusher hadn’t been held under 127 yards all season and needed 132 to break the NCAA’s single-season rushing record held by Barry Sanders. Penn State held him to 104 yards on 30 carries.
Even with the Nittany Lions projected to win the game by most, there seemed to be a common caveat.
“People thought it was gonna happen tonight,” J-Thomas said. “But you know what? We took that personally. Everybody said that he was gonna get it but we were still gonna win. No. We took that very personal as a defensive line. ... But that’s just because we had immense respect for him.”
But, much like it has most of the season, the group proved it was different. The defense stepped up against the best player it has faced.
And it wasn’t just the defense.
Penn State’s running backs room took notice, too. And they responded by one-upping the Boise State back, with Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen running for a combined 221 yards on 29 carries.
“Obviously, I’m biased. But these are the best two running backs in the country,” running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider said, pointing to Singleton and Allen. “You give them 300 carries a game, their stats would look different, too. I didn’t have to say anything all week. They knew what was at stake. The kid deserved the praise and the credit he got, but I knew what I had in my stable.”
Maybe what’s most different to past seasons is what those backs can do in tandem with the best tight end in the country. Tyler Warren continued his prolific season, hauling in six passes for 63 yards and two touchdowns, including one that he brought in over a Boise State defender.
He’s been a focal point of the team all season, and tight ends coach Ty Howle spoke about how proud he is of what he’s accomplished, even if he can’t always enjoy it as it’s happening. But the joy he gets from watching Warren is the same type that permeates throughout the team when anyone has success.
“You come into our locker room, our kids love one another,” Howle said. “They have each other’s backs. They enjoy being around each other. And they’re just fun to coach, man. They care about one another. They want to keep this family together as long as possible.”
For all of the success from the defense and the running game and the rest of the Nittany Lions, there have been persistent doubts from the outside. Head coach James Franklin hasn’t found success in big moments, and despite doing so this year more often than not, those goalposts keep getting moved.
They’ve only defeated SMU and Boise State. They still didn’t win a big game. Just wait until they face a real elite team in the Orange Bowl. That’s when they’ll crumble. That’s when “Big Game James” will show up. That’s when the Nittany Lions will reveal themselves and see their season come to an end.
Or that’s when the narrative will stop, and Penn State will prove what it’s spent most of the season proving — that this team is different.
And has as good a chance as any other at winning the national title.
This story was originally published January 1, 2025 at 3:30 AM with the headline "Confetti & camaraderie: How Penn State earned respect on a national stage — and isn’t finished."
