Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1509432
1 6 N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 3 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M "Once that first drive came and every person was whipping the man in front of him, I felt like, 'Oh, yeah, we've got control of this game.'" — Junior defensive end Chop Robinson on Penn State's defensive performance against the Hawkeyes "The Lions still lead the Big Ten in scoring (40.6 points per game) and are among just nine teams nationally to have scored at least 200 points in five games. The offense hasn't turned over the ball yet this season and still averages 194 yards rushing per game. Yet it has tendencies to sleepwalk, especially early, and lacks the player that opponents fear. Ohio State and Michigan will pounce on that." — Mark Wogenrich of SI.com, on Penn State's performance in September "Fashanu had been moving up my Big Board last fall, before he announced in November that he planned to return to school in 2023. He could have been a top-10 pick in that draft, challenging Paris Johnson Jr. to be the top tackle off the board. In any other class — a class without Williams and Harrison — he'd be the easy pick as the No. 1 overall prospect. That's what kind of talent he has. Fashanu has the size, footwork and physical traits teams want in a high-end left tackle. He moves effortlessly and with urgency, getting his hands on second-level defenders with ease." — ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr., who currently has junior offensive tackle Olumuyiwa Fashanu going fourth overall in next year's NFL Draft behind USC quarterback Caleb Williams, Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. and North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye "Penn State is averaging 194.8 rushing yards per game, more than 13 yards above its season average last year. The Lions rank 28th in the nation and fourth in the Big Ten, but they're averaging 4.2 per carry compared to 4.8 last season. Therein lies the rub. They're grinding it out on the ground instead of hit- ting home runs like they did last year when Singleton had seven runs of at least 40 yards. They're not pretty and they're not sexy, but they're effective." — Rich Scarcella, Reading Eagle, on the perfor- mance of Penn State's running game "Dante Cephas had seven targets [at Northwestern] which doesn't look great against just two catches, but there seems to be an increased emphasis to get him involved in the offense. After struggling a bit to make the transition out of the transfer portal, Cephas turn- ing a corner to get more reps could be a difference maker for Penn State down the road." — Ben Jones, StateCollege.com columnist, on the growing role that senior wide receiver Dante Cephas has played in recent weeks "One of the really cool things that happened [in the victory over Iowa] is that after KeAndre scored his touchdown on the fade ball, the first guy to meet him coming off the sideline was Kalen King. "Kalen and KeAndre's battles at practice are leg- endary, and I think that was a really good example and kind of a tip of the hat. Kalen saw KeAndre be successful, and KeAndre was saying, 'Well, you're a big part of that success because of how we go against each other every single day at practice.' I thought that was a really cool moment for our players on the sideline to see and for those two guys to be so supportive of each other, because it's pretty heated at practice sometimes." — James Franklin on the camaraderie between PSU's players, as exemplified by junior receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith and junior cornerback Kalen King They Said It "College football is a weird game where anything can hap- pen. Momentum can swing back to the other team, so I think that we did a good job of not relaxing and just keeping our foot on the pedal and doing what we're sup - posed to do on the offensive side of the ball." — Sophomore quarterback Drew Allar on Penn State's 31-0 victory over Iowa Sophomore quarterback Drew Allar completed 25 of 37 passes for 166 yards and 4 touchdowns in Penn State's 31-0 shel- lacking of Iowa on White Out night at Beaver Stadium. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL