Boise State Broncos assistant head coach Stacy Collins spent two seasons with the Penn State Nittany Lions. "Coach Collins was my guy," Penn State's Dom DeLuca said.

For starters, there’s a Heisman Trophy runner-up (Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty), the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year (Penn State’s Abdul Carter) and the Mackey Award winner (Penn State’s Tyler Warren) in the game.

The Boise State defense gave up nearly 30 points a game in their first five games, but in their final eight games they have only allowed 17 points per game as the defense improved through out the year.