Clemson Loses ‘Bronx Zoo’ Battle

by WILL FOLKS

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Two teams that began the 2025 season with legitimate national championship aspirations ended their campaigns in a middle-tier bowl game in the Bronx on a snowy Saturday – with Penn State outlasting Clemson 22-10 to claim the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl.

Or the “Disappointment Bowl,” as sports writer Scott Dochterman dubbed it.

Both teams concluded campaigns that left fans crestfallen – finishing with identical 7-6 records. The Nittany Lions will have the momentum headed into the offseason, though, as they reeled off four straight victories under interim head coach Terry Smith to close out the year.

Former Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell will soon take the reins of the Penn State program – with Smith remaining on staff to coach defensive backs.

Senior defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton was dominant in his final collegiate start for Penn State, recording two sacks and a pair of tackles for loss against the Tigers – who sputtered on offense in senior quarterback Cade Klubnik‘s final game at Clemson.

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Klubnik completed 22 of 39 passes (56.4%) for 193 yards against a stout Nittany Lions’ defense playing without multiple starters – including defensive tackle Zane Durant and safety Zakee Wheatley. Klubnik did break Tajh Boyd‘s school record for completions (901) during the first half of the game, however.

The preseason Heisman contender finished his Clemson career with 916 completions on 1,432 attempts (63.4%) for 10,123 yards. During the game, Klubnik passed Trevor Lawrence to move into third place on the school’s all-time passing yardage list behind Boyd and Deshaun Watson. He would have likely passed Watson had it not been for six dropped passes by his wideouts and eight pass breakups by Penn State defenders.

The drops were particularly costly – especially considering Clemson could get absolutely nothing going on the ground. The Tigers amassed just 43 rushing yards on their first trip to Yankee Stadium – their second lowest total of the season (ahead of the 31 yards gained on the ground during their season-opening loss to LSU). Clemson also tied its lowest point total of the season, matching the 10 points put up against the Bayou Bengals back in August).

Those anemic numbers are unlikely to do anything to silence the drumbeat of discontent surrounding third-year offensive coordinator Garrett Riley – with many expecting head coach Dabo Swinney to part ways with the underperforming play-caller after such an embarrassing exclamation mark to what was already a lackluster campaign.

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Defensively, Clemson was playing without projected NFL first round picks Peter Woods and T.J. Parker – as well as future NFL cornerback Avieon Terrell and mid-round defensive tackle DeMonte Capehart.

As for Penn State, four of its five offensive linemen did not suit up – including 6-foot-4, 323-pound junior guard Olaivavega Ioane, who is arguably the best interior lineman in the upcoming draft class. Senior tailback Nicholas Singleton – another future NFL draft pick – also opted out of the game, while his backfield mate Kaytron Allen did not play due to injury.

Singleton and Allen combined for more than 1,850 yards and 28 touchdowns in 2025.

Making the most of the opportunity presented by these absences was redshirt freshman tailback Quinton Martin Jr. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound native of Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania had just 32 yards on 13 carries for his entire collegiate career entering Saturday’s bowl game. Despite this lack of experience, he racked up 101 yards on 20 carries against the Tigers.

Of interest? Penn State’s running backs coach is former Temple head coach Stan Drayton – who was just hired to help new South Carolina offensive coordinator Kendal Briles try and reorient South Carolina’s moribund offense. South Carolina also hired Penn State’s defensive line coach Deion Barnes.

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Penn State quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer – who has led the Nittany Lions’ offense since starter Drew Allar went down with a broken ankle in mid-October – won his fourth straight game after losing his first three starts under center. Grunkemeyer completed 23 of 34 passes (67.7%) for a career-high 262 yards and two touchdowns against the Tigers.

Grunkemeyer was lights out during the second half – including a 73-yard touchdown strike to senior wide receiver Trebor Peña that blew the game open early in the fourth quarter. After hauling in a 23-yard reception from Grunkemeyer, Peña – who was born in the Bronx – took full advantage of twin failures by Tiger defenders Ricardo Jones and Corian Gipson to wrap him up and bring him to the ground.

Having shed these two Clemson defensive backs, Peña raced fifty yards the rest of the way for the game’s first touchdown…

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Just keep running, 73-yards to the house!#WeAre | @PinstripeBowl on ABC pic.twitter.com/fZaFHyUEIX

— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) December 27, 2025

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Peña caught five passes for 100 yards en route to being named the bowl’s most valuable player.

While Penn State celebrated its win, neither program particularly enjoyed its postseason fate – especially given the rarified air both teams were breathing at the start of the 2025 campaign.

The Nittany Lions reached the College Football Playoff (CFP) semi-final under former head coach James Franklin last season – and entered 2025 ranked No. 2/3 nationally. After a 3-3 start – including an embarrassing road loss to UCLA – Franklin was fired. He has since accepted the head coaching position at Virginia Tech.

As for Clemson, the Tigers also made the CFP last season and entered 2025 ranked No. 4/6 nationally – but ended up posting their worst record since 2010, Swinney’s second full season in Tigertown.

The bowl loss also guaranteed Clemson will finish the season outside of the Top 25 – the first time that’s happened since 2010. Prior to this season, Clemson had finished its past fourteen campaigns in the national rankings – including thirteen straight Top 20 finishes, eight Top Ten finishes, seven playoff appearances, four title game appearances and a pair of national championships.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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