Penn State Sports Magazine
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A P R I L 2 0 2 5 3 3 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M W hen Penn State opened the doors of the Lasch Football Building to local media on March 6 to observe a winter workout session prior to spring break, the scene was a bit different than in years past. There have been calendar adjustments on both ends of the team's offseason workout schedule. The Nittany Lions' 16-game 2024 season didn't end until Jan. 9, meaning that the offseason be- gan more than a week later than usual. On the back end, the Blue-White Game is slated for April 26, which is a couple of weeks later than its customary date. Because of those changes, the lifting ses- sion that PSU opened to reporters wasn't the typical Max Out day. "It's a little bit different than what years past have been from a timing standpoint," said Chuck Losey, Penn State's assistant athletics director for performance enhancement. "Obvi- ously, with the '24 season running later in January, we had to adapt and modify some things during the winter program. … But I think we did the right thing with the modifications within the program, and I'm really happy with the way that it turned out." Penn State delayed the start of the lifting and conditioning program, giv- ing players two weeks off in January. That meant the Nittany Lions had a condensed window for ramping up de- velopment ahead of the start of spring practices, which began on March 25. Losey said he expected that players would be back in a normal rhythm prior to the start of spring drills. "It's not going to be a long-term thing," Losey said. "I think we'll pretty much steady out by the time we get back from spring break. It's more pre-spring break. Normally during this time of year, I've got anywhere from six to seven weeks to really be aggressive with the guys before we get up to a test week. This year, we gave the guys two weeks off be- cause they needed it. "When we came back from the break, normally, we would hit it pretty hard. But we took a little bit of a different approach. We concentrated a little bit more on recovery and regeneration for those first two weeks, really getting their bodies back under them, getting their legs back under them, and getting them primed up for what was going to be an- other four aggressive weeks, this being the fourth. So, there's just a little bit of a difference in intensity." Asked to name some of the winter standouts, Losey cited three senior de- fensive stars: tackle Zane Durant, edge rusher Dani Dennis-Sutton and safety Zakee Wheatley. Losey described Durant, an honorable mention All-Big Ten choice last fall, as a "purpose-driven kid who's had an un- believable winter up to this point. I fully expect him to be an even better version of who he was in 2024. That's the way he's working." Dennis-Sutton is coming off a ju- nior year in which he ranked second on the team in both sacks (8.5) and tack- les for loss (13), while Wheatley tied for the team lead with 3 interceptions and ranked third with 96 tackles. "Dani Dennis-Sutton, you talk about adding a layer of resilience this offsea- son, from a physical standpoint and a mental standpoint, I think he's done that," Losey said. "I'm super happy with him. "Zakee Wheatley is the leader of the safety room, leader of the defense. Su- per proud of him. Maybe at one point his work ethic wasn't necessarily his strength, but he's completely flipped the script on that, and he's one of the hard- est workers, if not the hardest worker, on this football team right now. Super proud of him." On offense, Losey praised senior quar- terback Drew Allar, senior tackle Drew Shelton and redshirt junior guard Olai- vavega Ioane, among others. Because the roster is split into dif- ferent groups for lifting sessions, the open session featured only about half the squad. The group that was work- ing out on March 6 did not include most newcomers, freshmen and transfer por- tal additions. Other notables like Allar, Wheatley, senior running back Nicho- las Singleton and junior linebacker Tony Rojas were not a part of this group. We did see a few injured Nittany Lions Kaytron Allen Enjoying A Healthy Offseason Senior running back Kaytron Allen has been an outstanding performer for Penn State in each of his three years on campus even though his offseason progress has at times been hampered by inju- ries. The 5-foot-11, 217-pound Allen is back for a fourth year this fall, and the problems that slowed him in previous offseasons have not recurred. "Kaytron Allen has had as good a winter as he's ever had since he's been on campus," Penn State strength coach Chuck Losey said. "It's probably his best training cycle." That's an important development not just for Allen, but for the Nittany Lions as a team. A maxed-out Allen could have a huge impact on Penn State's on-field suc- cess next fall. Allen rushed for a career-high 1,108 yards in 16 games last season, ranking first on the team and fifth in the Big Ten. In the Nittany Lions' four postseason games, he had 61 carries for 410 yards and 3 touchdowns to go along with 6 catches for 49 yards. Those latter numbers were compiled against the best sustained stretch of competi- tion Penn State faced all season. This year, Allen will be asked to provide more of the same. He teamed with classmate Nicholas Singleton to give Penn State the top rushing offense in the Big Ten and 17th-best rushing offense in the FBS last season, with an average of 202.3 yards per game on the ground. If the two seniors are able to stay healthy, PSU could be poised for a record-breaking season in 2025. — Nate Bauer Allen ranked fifth in the Big Ten last season with 1,108 rushing yards. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS