Trebor Peña returned to the tri-state area for his final college football game and caught the game-winning touchdown for the Penn State Nittany Lions as they took down the Clemson Tigers 22-10 in the 2025 Bad Boy Mowers’ Pinstripe Bowl. The Nittany Lions finish off a rollercoaster of a season with a 7-6 record, and the Tigers end their disappointing year with the same record.
GAME RECAP
The first half was the most uneventful part of the bowl entire week. Neither team was able to put together a solid drive, and neither side could find the end zone. Both quarterbacks played up to expectations, but on paper, you wouldn’t think that. Potentially a result of the temperature being 28 degrees at kickoff with a 19-degree wind chill, it seemed like both Clemson and Penn State receivers came down with a bad case of the butter fingers. Perfect passes were thrown, and more often than not, they were dropped.
The Nittany Lions took advantage of a three-and-out and a fake punt attempt on Clemson’s first drive of the game, cashing them in for three points. The Tigers took a chance early when Jack Smith faked a punt and attempted a pass; however, it was far from successful, resulting in a turnover on downs. Penn State started on the 32, and despite running ten plays, their drive was only good enough for a 22-yard field goal from Ryan Barker.
The Tigers tried to capitalize early in the second quarter, where Tiger quarterback Cade Klubnick threw a 44-yard pass to TJ Moore, putting Clemson in a perfect position to score. However, it all meant nothing as a 33-yard field goal attempt by Nolan Hauser went wide right, and Clemson still had nothing on the scoreboard.
It wouldn’t be until 52 seconds were left in the first half that the Tigers finally got some points, thanks to a 48-yard field goal from Hauser. Penn State refused to go into halftime all tied up and responded with three points of their own. The two sides went back to the locker rooms with the Nittany Lions ahead and a baseball score on the board: 6-3.
The score remained the same until five minutes left in the third quarter, where yet another field goal was kicked. After a turnover on downs on their last drive, Penn State redeemed themselves on their next try, giving them a six-point lead.
The Nittany Lions became the first team to make it into the end zone seconds into the fourth quarter, where they added to their lead after Peña broke free from Tiger defenders off a pass from Ethan Grunkemeyer for a 77-yard touchdown reception. Peña, an Ocean Township native, was awarded the Henry George “Hank” Steinbrenner II MVP trophy after the game, finishing with 100 yards on five receptions to go along with his scoring catch.
Clemson had a response, and it was a touchdown of their own. On the very next drive, the Tigers marched down the field and ended it with a two-yard run from Adam Randall to make it 15-10. With the clock winding down, Clemson was finally showing the firepower no one had seen all game.
The momentum hardly lasted, as Penn State would score again to go up 22-10, with Andrew Rappleyea’s 11-yard catch ultimately sealing it. Though it was field goal galore throughout the majority of the game, in the end, the Yankee Stadium crowd saw three straight drives and three straight touchdowns.
The Tigers fought to the wire, but it was the Nittany Lions’ defense that added the sugar to the coffee and iced the game with a turnover on downs. The Nittany Lions went on to win their fourth straight game and even the all-time series against the Tigers with one win apiece. In their first meeting, Clemson defeated Penn State 35-10 in the 1988 Florida Citrus Bowl.
The Meaning
If we’re being honest, neither team should have even been playing in this game. The Pinstripe Bowl is for the teams who head into the postseason with five to six, sometimes seven wins. Both the Tigers and Nittany Lions are considered the more dominant programs in their conference and have a way higher standard, to the point where seven wins could be considered a failure of a season.
While going to the Pinstripe Bowl was certainly not a goal for either team, and despite their seasons turning to the polar opposite of what they should have been, Pinstripe Bowl Executive Director Mark Holtzman and his team put together an incredible experience in the Big Apple. Below is a list of all the things the two schools got to partake in since arriving in New York on December 23:
- A welcome reception for coaches, traveling parties, and sponsors at The Central Park Boathouse
- A visit to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum
- Attending the Radio City Christmas Spectacular on Christmas Eve
- Cocoa with Santa Claus on Christmas Morning
- Ringing the bell at the New York Stock Exchange
- A trip to the set of Good Morning America in Times Square
- A Community Relations Event at Memorial Sloan Kettering (Clemson)
And much more…
At the opening press conference on December 9, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney mentioned not many of his players had traveled this far north (New York). I asked coach Swinney what the reaction was from players, coaches, and even family members that they’d be traveling to New York City to play in the Pinstripe Bowl.
“They’re excited,” Swinney said. “It’ll be a unique experience to have Christmas in New York City…I’ve always enjoyed the postseason and the experiences that come with it. I’ve been all over the country in bowl games with this game [American Football], but I’ve never had the opportunity to have a postseason game in New York City. So it’s unique for me, and I’m really excited about it, and I know our players will be as well.”
The Vision
When the new Yankee Stadium was being built, then owner, the late George Steinbrenner, ensured that the dimensions needed to be built specifically so that college football games could be played there. In the pregame press conference, I asked Yankees President Randy Levine if the matchup between two powerhouses like Penn State and Clemson was the vision Steinbrenner had in mind.
“I’ve said it many times, George Steinbrenner LOVED college football,” Levine said. Before heading to the corporate world, “The Boss” played at Williams College and had assistant coaching stops at Purdue and Northwestern. “If you gave him sodium pentothal, who knows if he would pick that over the Yankees, that’s how much he loved it. And when he built this stadium, he told us, ‘make sure you can play college football here,’ and we did.”
This latest edition of the Pinstripe Bowl had it all: Two big names playing, a jam-packed house, and a snowy setting. Holzman said that this Pinstripe Bowl was the best matchup they ever had; It will certainly be a challenge to top it in the future.
