Wyoming Area’s Dominic DeLuca sparks Penn State’s College Football Playoff win with pick-six

STATE COLLEGE — The last quarter of playoff football that Dominic DeLuca played was five years ago this month.

Playing quarterback and safety, he figured in on three touchdowns in the fourth quarter of the 2019 PIAA Class 3A championship, rallying Wyoming Area to an improbable 21-14 victory for the state title.

In his first quarter of playoff football at Penn State, DeLuca found the end zone again. And this time, he had two intact knees when he did it.

DeLuca added to his historic play in the biggest games in Saturday’s 38-10 demolition of SMU at Beaver Stadium. The redshirt junior linebacker will go down in the record books as the first Penn State player to ever score in the College Football Playoff, snagging an overthrown pass and taking it back 23 yards for a touchdown.

He wasn’t done. The former Warriors star added a second interception in the first half to thwart a Mustangs red zone trip. He finished with five tackles and also split a sack.

“Dom is just a baller,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “… I love Dom and (his) mom and dad. I think he’s a tremendous example for all of our players on the team. There’s always a smile on his face. He’s appreciative. He works his tail off. … Whatever role we’ve asked him to do, he’s done it 100 miles an hour.

“He’s a tremendous young man. He’s awesome.”

DeLuca’s performance matched the likes of fellow Nittany Lions linebackers Shane Conlan and Pete Giftopoulos, who each had two picks of Miami’s Vinny Testaverde to deliver the program’s last national championship in 1986.

Not that DeLuca and the Lions are getting ahead of themselves. Sixth-seeded Penn State (12-2) still has three more games to go to claim a crown, starting with a New Year’s Eve date with Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl.

”Not really,” DeLuca said when asked if the magnitude of the day had sunk in after the game. “I’m just trying to celebrate with my brothers each week.”

DeLuca wasn’t eager to talk about himself. No matter. Plenty of others were willing to do it for him.

“What a testament to his grit and toughness,” defensive coordinator Tom Allen said. “… He’s one of the smartest players I’ve ever coached. More than anything, he’s a gifted player. He comes up big for us and he’s so consistent each and every week. I’m just so proud of him. He deserves all the credit he gets.”

“Ask anyone in the building — he just does everything right,” said Abdul Carter, the Big Ten defensive player of the year.

“He’s the same person every day,” said fellow linebacker Tony Rojas, who came up with a pick-six of his own. “The attention he brings to practice every day, his positive attitude, his work ethic — it all matches together.”

DeLuca may not be an All-American like Conlan, one of the brightest stars Linebacker U has ever produced. But his story is no less memorable.

The West Pittston native tore an ACL in the first half of that state championship game five years ago before leading the comeback. He decided to walk on at Penn State, but his enrollment was delayed until 2021 as he rehabilitated during the pandemic.

He was quickly moved from safety to linebacker because of depth issues, and he never looked back. By the time the Lions reached the Rose Bowl at the end of the 2022 season, DeLuca was awarded a scholarship. A few months later, he was voted team captain in just his third year on campus, an honor he received again this past summer.

“It’s just awesome, right?” Franklin said. “We talk about the journey a lot in our program. Everyone’s journey is different. Everyone’s race is different. You’ve gotta run your race and maximize the opportunities you get. He’s a great example of that.”

DeLuca’s 2024 campaign was limited by a September injury that forced him to miss a game. He returned with a bulky cast on his hand that immobilized his thumb.

He has no such handicap now. DeLuca has three interceptions in his last four games, including a key takeaway against Minnesota that helped Penn State dig out of an early 10-0 hole in what ended up as a one-point win.

On Saturday, he put the points up himself.

With both teams off to a slow start in frigid temperatures, DeLuca sat back in coverage as defensive tackle Coziah Izzard descended on Mustangs quarterback Kevin Jennings.

Jennings tried to dump it off over the middle, but the pressure caused him to sail the ball, and DeLuca was right there to capitalize. Izzard again came up with a big assist, getting a piece of the lone SMU player in DeLuca’s way to allow him to score from 23 yards out.

It was DeLuca’s second career pick-six for the Lions, adding to the one from September 2023 against Delaware.

This one came in a slightly bigger situation.

The play sparked an antsy Beaver Stadium crowd that wasn’t sure what to expect against 11th-seeded SMU (11-3), the ACC runner-up that was the last team selected into the field of 12.

“Growing up, playing quarterback and reading defenses was a huge (help) for me,” DeLuca said of his prowess in coverage. “It helps me read quarterbacks more and read offenses better.”

Rojas followed suit in the second quarter. The sophomore snagged a third-down duck thrown by Jennings and flashed his Virginia High School Player of the Year ability as a running back, taking it all the way 59 yards for another score.

“That’s why you recruit linebackers that play running back,” Franklin deadpanned. “That was phenomenal.”

It was the first time Penn State had two pick-sixes in the same game since November 1998 when David Macklin and Anthony King pulled it off against Michigan State.

Despite those two huge plays, the Lions nearly had the momentum swing dramatically back the other way.

Up 14-0 in the second quarter, Franklin elected to go for it on fourth-and-inches from his own 19. But a fumbled snap derailed the play and Drew Allar was marked short on a quarterback sneak.

“I’d call it again,” Franklin said of the high-risk decision, noting that he told his staff and his players throughout the week that they would be aggressive on play-calling. “I can’t say that all week long and then not do it.

“When you pick it up, it’s a great call. When you don’t pick it up, it’s a bad call.”

DeLuca and the defense made it a moot point.

SMU had second-and-goal from the Lions’ 7, looking to make it a game. DeLuca came on a blitz, but when he saw Jennings rear back to throw, he stopped and timed a jump to deflect the pass high in the air right back to himself for the pick.

The offense responded with one of its best drives of the day, turning the interception into a 75-yard drive that was capped off by a 25-yard touchdown run by Kaytron Allen.

SMU never recovered.

A Nick Singleton 1-yard plunge made it 28-0 at halftime. SMU got a big return on the second-half kickoff but only managed a field goal, which Penn State matched on the next drive on a 40-yard Ryan Barker boot.

Allen added a second touchdown, scoring from 4 yards out to make it 38-3 early in the fourth quarter. The Mustangs found the end zone on a 28-yard pass from Jennings to Roderick Daniels with 7:31 left.

It wasn’t nearly enough to stop the Lions from enjoying their last game of the year at Beaver Stadium, donning Fiesta Bowl hats as they celebrated on the field.

Franklin urged his players not to take the moment for granted.

“We’ve got 10 days (until the next game),” Franklin said. “Every one of them is like gold.”

The post Wyoming Area’s Dominic DeLuca sparks Penn State’s College Football Playoff win with pick-six appeared first on Times Leader.

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