Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1540433
N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 5 4 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M TOP FIVE PLAYERS 1. Kaytron Allen | RB | Sr. Allen might be the only returning player on of- fense who looks better than he did last year. It took six games for Penn State to begin using him as the team's lead running back, but when it did, the result was a 90-yard performance against Northwestern. Allen, who took over as PSU's primary ball carrier against the Wildcats, went into the season's second half with 467 yards and 7 touchdowns on 70 carries (6.7 yards per carry). 2. Ryan Barker | PK | R-So. Barker has been nearly automatic. His only unsuc- cessful attempt through six games was a blocked 53- yard try against Florida International. The redshirt sophomore had hit 10 of 11 attempts heading into Penn State's visit to Iowa on Oct. 18. 3. Gabriel Nwosu | P | R-Sr. In a season in which the offense and defense have underperformed, the specialists have lived up to expectations. Nwosu has been a big part of that effort, averaging 45.5 yards on 14 attempts. He's been good at flipping field position and pinning op- ponents deep. Eight of his punts have been downed inside the opponent's 20-yard line. 4. Zakee Wheatley | S | R-Sr. Wheatley has quietly put together a solid season. He was the Lions' second-leading tackler with 39 stops through six games while compiling an 84.1 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, second-best on the PSU defense. His fumble return against Or- egon might have been one of the season's turning points if it hadn't been overturned on a question- able replay ruling. 5. Dani Dennis-Sutton | DE | Sr. Dennis-Sutton hasn't put together big numbers, totaling 2 sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss through six games. But he's still someone that every opposing offensive coordinator has to account for, and his 85.7 overall grade from PFF is tops among PSU defenders. KEY MOMENT Senior quarterback Drew Allar was aiming for Luke Reynolds on first-and-10 with Penn State trailing Oregon by six points in the second overtime period. Before the ball reached the sophomore tight end on the right sideline, Ducks safety Dillon Thieneman made a lunging interception, clinching a 30-24 win for the visitors on Sept. 27. Penn State had staged a valiant comeback, rallying for 2 touchdowns in the final 10 and a half minutes to send the game to overtime. The Lions held a 24- 17 lead in the first overtime period, but a defense that had already been on the field for nearly 34 min- utes heading into the extra sessions was too gassed to hold off the Ducks. Given how the Lions' subsequent matchups against UCLA and Northwestern unfolded, it's likely we'll look back on Thieneman's pick as the key moment not just of this stretch of games but the entire season. BEST HIGHLIGHT Senior receiver Devonte Ross scored both touch- downs in Penn State's fourth-quarter comeback against Oregon. Take your pick: Was the best high- light that picture-perfect 35-yard pass into the end zone by Allar after Ross had blazed past Thieneman? Or was it the 7-yard shovel pass to Ross that tied the score at 17-17 with 30 seconds left? Both touchdowns brought the White Out crowd of 111,015 to its feet after three sluggish quarters in which Penn State managed only a 49-yard field goal by Barker. BOLD PREDICTION After going 3-3 in the first half of its campaign— and with Allar out for the rest of the year with an injury — Penn State now stands a good chance of missing out on the postseason entirely. The Nittany Lions' first six opponents had compiled a collec- tive 18-17 record through the season's first seven weeks, and four of those wins were by Villanova at the FCS level. Meanwhile, Penn State's last six op- ponents had gone 27-9 over that same span. All six were .500 or better, and two were undefeated. How could a campaign that began with the Nit- tany Lions ranked second nationally have gone so wrong so quickly? The biggest problem is that ever since junior linebacker Tony Rojas went down with a season-ending injury, the PSU defense hasn't been able to get off the field. UCLA rushed for 269 yards and held the ball for nearly 40 minutes. Northwestern netted only 119 yards on the ground but still compiled just under 35 minutes of posses- sion time. If PSU couldn't get stops against two of the less-heralded offenses in the Big Ten, what are Ohio State, Indiana and Nebraska going to do? The promotion of redshirt freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer to the starting quarterback job adds another element of uncertainty to the Nittany Lions' immediate future. But even if he's ready for the spotlight, PSU's glaring defensive flaws are go- ing to make the rest of the season an uphill battle. — Matt Herb Dani Dennis-Sutton's 85.7 overall grade from Pro Football Focus was the best on Penn State's defense through the first half of the season. PHOTO BY FRANK HYATT PENN STATE FOOTBALL SUPERLATIVES G A M E 4 – G A M E 6