It’s finally here — the 12-team College Football Playoff.

And every Penn State fan can breathe a sigh of relief, as the Nittany Lions are in. No. 6 seed Penn State will face off with the No. 11 seed SMU Mustangs in Beaver Stadium in the first round.

The game will certainly have that old school Penn State football feel to it with the temperature this morning expected to start around 10 degrees and then climb to the high 20s around kickoff (Noon ET, TNT).

Before getting into the key match-ups for PSU against SMU, let’s quickly address the Beau Pribula news that broke this week. With junior starting signal caller Drew Allar announcing that he was going to be coming back for his senior season, Pribula announced that he would be entering the transfer portal. Pribula, deservingly so, is looking to be QB No. 1 and there are plenty of schools out there that are willing to give him that opportunity.

It will be a huge loss for the Nittany Lions for the playoffs from a scheme aspect, but maybe even more importantly, they will miss Pribula’s leadership. Penn State head coach James Franklin has done nothing but praise Pribula’s work ethic and character since he’s been on campus, and it’s well known that Pribula grew up with the dream of one day playing for the Nittany Lions.

Pribula was put in an impossible situation, and he had to do what was best for him and his family. The transfer portal window being open during the CFP is something that will definitely need to be changed moving forward. No student athlete should be forced to leave their team in the middle of the playoffs.

Some will say, “Well he didn’t have to leave.” That’s true, but then Pribula would have had to wait until the spring and most of the starting quarterback spots would have been filled be then. If he wanted a good shot at being a starting quarterback at another school, then he had to enter the portal now.

Now, onto today’s match-up between the Nittany Lions and SMU. The most important priority for Penn State in this game will be containing Mustangs’ quarterback Kevin Jennings. PSU has yet to see a quarterback as dynamic as Jennings this season and even if you do everything right, Jennings could end up making a play with his legs by breaking contain.

On the season, Jennings has passed for 3,050 yards with 22 touchdowns and eight interceptions, and he’s also rushed for 379 yards and five rushing scores.

You’re never going to totally stop a player like Jennings, but what the Nittany Lions will need to do is force him to stay in the pocket, while getting pressure up the middle. In the Mustangs’ two losses this season, turnovers were an issue for Jennings. As noted, the weather is going to be frigid and could certainly have an impact on how Jennings both throws and carries the football.

Abdul Carter, Zane Durant, Dani Dennis-Sutton and others on the PSU defensive front will need to do a good job of making plays on Jennings when the opportunities present themselves.

The No. 1 key again will be keeping Jennings contained. The Nittany Lions cannot let him scramble around all day because that’s when it becomes really tough for a defense to defend SMU.

Up to this point in his career, this is the biggest game for Drew Allar under center. And even with his two interceptions thrown in the Big Ten championship game against Oregon, I really liked the way that Allar looked in the game.

He moved really well in the pocket, ran when he saw a lane and an opportunity, and also threw the ball with pop and a ton of confidence. I think Allar is on the verge of becoming a very special player and there is no better way to prove that than with an opening round win in the CFP.

On the season, Allar has thrown for 2,894 yards with 21 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He has run the ball well when needed, adding 279 yards on the ground and six rushing touchdowns. The Mustangs have struggled against tight ends this season, which certainly bodes well for Allar’s top target and Mackey Award winner (award for best TE in the country) in Tyler Warren.

As far as tight end ranks go, Warren is tied for first in the Power Four with 10 touchdowns and first in receiving yards with 1,062 and third in receptions with 88. Warren is a game changer and he certainly presents some match-up issues for the SMU defense.

It will need to be an all hands-on-deck approach from all the playmakers on Penn State’s offense. As I say every week, the PSU rushing attack needs to be effective and consistent from the first second of the game. Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen both rushed for over 100 yards in the Big Ten championship game, and both look to be the healthiest they have been this season. SMU has been good against the run, but they have yet to face a duo of backs as good as Singleton and Allen, and they have yet to play defense in cold conditions.

Las Vegas has Penn State as a 9-point favorite.

SMU also has a formidable running back in Brashard Smith. Smith has rushed for 1,270 yards and 14 touchdowns. Not enough pundits are talking about Smith and I think he’s going to play a key factor in the game. Obviously, it will be vital for the PSU defense to stop Smith and the SMU run game.

The Nittany Lions have to make the Mustangs offense a one-dimensional passing attack and then force Jennings to make mistakes with disciplined pressure.

What I think we’re going to see is Penn State’s physicality rear its head in this game. All season long, the Nittany Lions have played fast and they have played a physical brand of football in the trenches. That’s what needs to happen later today and I think PSU will do just that and it will advance.

My pick is Penn State 34, SMU 24.