Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1539550
1 6 O C T O B E R 2 0 2 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M They Said It "I made a promise to myself in high school that by the time I left college, I'd be the best defensive end in the country." — Senior edge rusher Dani Dennis-Sutton after Penn State's season-opening 46-11 win over Nevada, in which he had 2.5 tackles for loss, 2 forced fumbles, a sack and a pass breakup "The Nittany Lions couldn't finish off drives early playing in poor weather during a 34-0 victory over Florida International. After scoring just one touchdown in the first half, Penn State finally got going. "Still, the Nittany Lions went just 3-of-12 on third down, a continuation of the previous sea- son. ... Penn State went 3-of-11 in a home loss to Ohio State and in the CFP semifinals loss to Notre Dame. "The Nittany Lions have the goods to win a national championship. But they need to im- prove on third down, especially ahead of a big Sept. 27 clash against Oregon." — ESPN college football writer Jake Trotter on Penn State's Week 2 victory over FIU "I caught myself overthinking a couple times and not going out there and just playing. We had the bubble [screen] to Nick [Singleton] that I just completely missed on third down. I'm just overthinking it. I made that throw all week in practice, so it's [a matter of] just shutting my brain off and going out and playing. As frustrat- ing as it is, I know it's really correctable. I've just got to go out there and fix it." — Senior quarterback Drew Allar following the FIU game, in which Penn State struggled on offense at times and led only 10-0 early in the third quarter "I think people should be talking more about Reynolds, who flashed as a true freshman last season despite playing behind generational talent Tyler Warren. Against FIU, Reynolds was targeted nine times and had seven receptions. He was Allar's island of safety, the guy that QB1 saw as the place to go when in a bind. Despite the one-year rental of three portal receivers, Reynolds has the confidence of Allar and a good amount of rizz and excitement potential à la Warren. — Mike Poorman, StateCollege.com colum- nist, on sophomore tight end Luke Reynolds "These last six months were super draining, super toxic for everyone. It's something that I don't think [any] player should have to go through. ... The fact that I was traded a week before the season was really outrageous and rough." — Former Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons, telling The Athletic about the ac- rimony that led to his trade from Dallas to Green Bay just before the start of the 2025 NFL season "It looked like the speed of light or a shoot- ing star just coming out of the sky and closing ground fast. That's why he's here, right?" — Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur on Par- sons' first sack for the Packers, which came in the fourth quarter of a season-opening 27-13 win over Detroit "What makes Penn State right for me is, for one, like Coach Franklin says, 'The best in PA stay in PA.' I have the blueprint on how to make it to the NFL right in front of me at Penn State. I love the coaches, especially Coach [Deion] Barnes — he produces players and he's a great coach." — Riverside (Pa.) High defensive tackle Ta- vian Branch on flipping his verbal commit- ment from Rutgers to PSU in early September PHOTO BY BEN BURRELL "It was great having him back. He probably played a little bit more than I wanted him to play in terms of rep count, but he looked quick off the ball, looked confident. Mentally, he looked confident. Physi- cally, he looked confident. Emotionally, he had a big smile on his face and was flying around hav- ing fun. We're young at defensive end, so that experience and that leadership is important for us." — James Franklin on super senior defensive end ZURIAH FISHER, who saw his first game action since 2023 in the Lions' 34-0 shutout of Florida International on Sept. 6