Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1534903
M A Y 2 0 2 5 19 about the football. Penn State's first pub- lic showing since the Orange Bowl turned out well. There are still many questions to answer, but progress was evident in a few key areas. Receivers Step Forward All eyes were on Penn State's wide re- ceiver group, particularly new additions Kyron Hudson and Devonte Ross. The two newcomers started on the first-team offense along with fellow senior Liam Clifford; the Nittany Lions employed an 11-personnel look for most of the game. After an unproductive first drive for the offense, Penn State went to Clifford on multiple plays before settling in and spreading the ball around to Hudson and Ross. The best compliment to give the group is that they did what experienced veter- ans are supposed to do. Hudson worked his way into pockets in the zone and was able to sit in space. He caught the ball outside of his immediate target zone. Ross looked sharp in his routes, in par- ticular an out pattern that produced 19 yards. Senior quarterback Drew Allar also tried going up top to Ross in seven- on-seven work, but his pass was over- thrown. Was it anything out of the ordinary? Not exactly. Was it a fairly consistent performance after a spring in which James Franklin used that word every time the position was brought up? Close enough. In addition to the two newcomers, redshirt freshman Tyseer Denmark staked his claim for more time with a strong finish. Denmark was a favorite of redshirt freshman quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer, working the middle of the field from the slot. The Nittany Lions hit their share of drag routes off the bootleg. Denmark's longest gain went for about 30 yards on one of those connections. On several occasions, Penn State looked to get the ball to true freshman Koby Howard close to the line of scrim- mage. Howard's agility after the catch was largely negated by the thud format; he was down upon being touched. Still, there's a nice burst there. Howard's classmate Lyrick Samuel capped a surprising spring with the game's only receiving touchdown. He got behind the defense on a blown coverage, and redshirt sophomore Jaxon Smolik found him for a 42-yard score. Samuel still has work to do physically, but he flashed a few times. He moves quite well for his size (6-foot-4, 187 pounds). Looking to bounce back from an in- jury-plagued 2024 season, redshirt ju- nior Kaden Saunders played during skel- eton portion and got into the game at the end in the slot, but he didn't seem to be a big part of the plans. Saunders spent much of the spring out of contact. Red- shirt freshman Peter Gonzalez has yet to be cleared for full contact as well. Despite a few injury setbacks, Franklin sounded upbeat after the game about how the receiver corps was coming to- gether. "I was pleased with what we did this spring in the passing game," he said. "I was pleased with the wide receivers. ... You guys saw Tyseer make some plays today, which was great. Then, obviously, you got your first look at Hudson and Ross, both of whom have very bright fu- tures. "We're trying to create as much com- petition at every position as we possibly can; that is the nature of this level of col- lege football. We embrace it as coaches, and the players embrace it as well." Backup Quarterbacks Make Their Case Penn State wanted to see as much of Smolik and Grunkemeyer as possible. The Nittany Lions succeeded, with both contenders for the backup job getting a ton of reps. Allar played just two series during the contact portion of the scrim- mage, and true freshman Bekkem Kritza didn't play at all (though he was credited with catching the first pass of the day via an unfortunate PA announcement error … it's spring ball for everyone). This meant that the stage was fairly clear. Smolik got the first reps with the White squad, but the pair went back and forth. Throughout spring practice, sources said this one was too close to call. The spring game seemed to confirm that assessment. True freshman receiver Lyrick Samuel caught the only touchdown pass of the Blue-White Game, a 42-yarder from Jaxon Smolik. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS