What broke out inside Yankee Stadium at noon felt less like a bowl shootout and more like a November grinder. Penn State clung to a 6–3 halftime lead over Clemson in the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl, a first half defined by field goals, missed opportunities, and two defenses that refused to blink.
Neither team reached the end zone. Instead, the scoreboard told a story of attrition: three made field goals, one miss, and long stretches where every yard felt expensive
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Late Kick Swings Momentum
Clemson briefly seized momentum late in the second quarter when Cade Klubnik engineered a 10-play, 42-yard drive capped by Nolan Hauser’s 48-yard field goal to tie the game at 3–3 with 56 seconds left. But Penn State answered immediately. Ethan Grunkemeyer moved the Nittany Lions 48 yards in just 52 seconds, setting up Ryan Barker’s 48-yard field goal as time expired — the longest kick of the half and the difference at the break.
It was the kind of sequence that underscored the margin: Clemson needed nearly three minutes to get points. Penn State needed under one.
Klubnik Finds Air, Not Balance
Statistically, Clemson owned the air. Klubnik threw for 115 yards on 11-of-22 passing, highlighted by a 44-yard strike to T.J. Moore that flipped field position and fueled the Tigers’ best scoring chance. Moore finished the half with 74 receiving yards, accounting for nearly two-thirds of Clemson’s passing output.
But balance never arrived. Clemson managed just 19 rushing yards on 13 attempts, repeatedly putting Klubnik in long-yardage situations against a Penn State front that recorded two sacks and multiple drive-killing pressures.
Penn State Wins the Trenches
Penn State didn’t light up the stat sheet, but it controlled the rhythm. The Nittany Lions rushed for 58 yards, converted 5-of-11 third downs, and held the ball for more than 15 minutes in the opening half. Grunkemeyer was efficient rather than explosive, throwing for 70 yards without a turnover and leaning on Quinton Martin’s burst out of the backfield.
Defensively, Penn State stiffened inside the red zone, forcing Clemson to settle for a missed field goal earlier in the quarter and never allowing the Tigers closer than the 15-yard line.
Halftime Outlook
Second-half question: can Clemson find a run game — or will Penn State keep turning small edges into points?