Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1532761
M A R C H 2 0 2 5 15 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M By The Numbers 0 Takedowns surrendered by the Penn State wrestling team in a 39-0 trouncing of No. 12 Michigan Feb. 7 at the Bryce Jordan Center. The Nittany Lions totaled 20 takedowns of their own, with freshman 125-pounder Luke Lilledahl and junior 174-pounder Levi Haines both winning by fall. The victory over the Wolverines was Penn State's fifth shutout of the dual-meet season. 2 n d Penn State's spot in ESPN's re-evaluation of the 2022 football recruiting class. The Nittany Lions, whose '22 class featured defensive ends Abdul Carter and Dani Dennis-Sutton, running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, and quarterback Drew Allar, among others, came in seventh in On3's final team rankings that year but placed second in ESPN's reranking, which took into account how well schools developed and retained their signees. Over the past three seasons, the 2022 class has played a key role in helping Penn State compile a 34-8 record. Here's a look at ESPN's top 10: Team 2024 Rerank 2022 Rank Difference Michigan 1st 9th +8 Penn State 2nd 7th +5 Georgia 3rd 3rd — Boise State 4th 64th +60 Texas 5th 5th — LSU 6th 12th +6 Alabama 7th 2nd -5 Iowa State 8th 40th +32 Arizona 9th 28th +19 Tennessee 10th 15th +5 3 Penn Staters on ESPN's Way-Too-Early All-America team for the 2025 season. Writer Chris Low listed se- nior running back Nicholas Singleton and redshirt junior guard Olaivavega Ioane on the first team, while giving senior running back Kaytron Allen a second-team nod. Low de- scribed Singleton as "easily one of the most versatile running backs in the country," and Ioane as an "absolute mauler as a blocker." "With Ioane back, along with Nicholas Singleton and Kay- tron Allen at running back, the Nittany Lions should have one of the top rushing attacks in college football," Low predicted. "Ioane's quickness for someone his size is something to see." 5 Consecutive Big Ten regular-season championships for the Penn State wrestling team. The Nittany Lions (14-0, 8-0) clinched their latest title with a 29-9 rout of host Illi- nois on Feb. 16. This year's crown is the 11th in program his- tory, with all coming during the Cael Sanderson coaching era. 3 3 5 Directors' Cup points amassed by Penn State during the fall athletic season. PSU got 100 points from the women's volleyball team's NCAA Tour- nament championship. The football team earned 75 points for reaching the College Football Playoff semifi- nals, while PSU also got 73 points from women's soccer, 60 from women's cross country and 27 from men's cross country. As of late January, Penn State was third in the Directors' Cup standings, trailing North Carolina (422.5) and Stanford (413). + 8 0 0 Penn State's odds of winning the 2025 na- tional championship according to FanDuel Sportsbook. The Nittany Lions had the fifth-best odds to claim the title, trailing Ohio State (+600), Texas (+650), Oregon (+650) and Georgia (+700). In addition, senior quar- terback Drew Allar was given the eighth-best odds of win- ning the Heisman Trophy at +1800. LSU quarterback Gar- rett Nussmeier had FanDuel's best Heisman Trophy odds at +800. 2 , 8 5 7 Saquon Barkley's total yards from scrim- mage — regular season and playoffs — in the Philadelphia Eagles' Super Bowl-winning 2024 campaign. Going into Super Bowl LIX, the former Nittany Lion needed only 3 yards to break Terrell Davis' league record for total yardage. Barkley got those yards on the first play of the Ea- gles' 40-22 blowout of Kansas City Feb. 9 in New Orleans. Davis had held the record since 1998, when he amassed 2,762 yards in helping the Denver Broncos claim their second Vince Lombardi Trophy. 1 5 ,9 9 8 Attendance for the Penn State wrestling team's dual meet against second-ranked Iowa Jan. 31 at the Bryce Jordan Center. That figure tied the NCAA attendance record for an indoor wrestling meet, which was set during Iowa's visits to the BJC in 2018 and 2023. As in those two previous matches, the Lions prevailed in this year's clash, winning 30-8. $ 1 5 m i l l i o n Projected economic impact of the construction work that is currently underway at Beaver Stadium. Penn State estimates that there will be between 800 and 1,000 trades- people working on the project each summer, with 450 work- ers on site daily at the project's peak. Construction is slated to continue through the summer of 2027. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS