Penn State wrestler Seth Nevills added to football team’s roster

Penn State football has a late addition to this year’s roster. 

Junior wrestler Seth Nevills will join the team in Beaver Stadium this fall. The news was first reported by The Clovis Sports Report’s Paul Meadors a few weeks ago, and Nevills was officially added to the roster on Aug. 30.

The 6-foot-4, 301-pound offensive lineman, who is known by his teammates as “Big Snacks,” has not played football since his junior year of high school. He will remain on his wrestling scholarship while he walks onto the football team.

As a high school wrestler, Nevills had four consecutive California state wrestling championships and a 169-1 record. While in State College, Nevills has a 36-7 record.

Nevills has three old brothers that wrestled at Penn State, Stanford and Fresno State. 

Penn State fans are unable to officially see where Nevills stands on the team, as the school announced Monday through a media advisory that they will not be releasing any public depth charts this fall.

Nittany Lions travel to Wisconsin for opener

Penn State opens the 2021 season in Madison on Saturday in one of Week 1’s best games. In his eighth season, head coach James Franklin will try to reroute the team after going 4-5 last season. It was Penn State’s first losing season since 2004. 

The Nittany Lions have won four straight games against Wisconsin dating back to 2012. Their 2016 win was a 38-31 victory over the Badgers in the Big Ten Championship Game. Wisconsin is currently favored by 5.5 on Saturday. 

Quarterback Sean Clifford returns for his fifth year with 25 games and 20 starts under his belt. He finished last year with a passer rating of 137.4 after completing 60.6% of his passes for 1,883 yards, 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Clifford will need to greatly improve his decision making to avoid repeating 2020. 

Thankfully for him, he returns most of his offensive weapons. Penn State has one of the deepest, most-talented running bank rooms in the country. Noah Cain and Keyvon Lee (the team’s leading rusher last season) are expected to get the bulk of the carries, but Devyn Ford, John Lovett and Caziah Holmes are also in the mix. 

Penn State lost tight end Pat Friermuth to the NFL, but top receivers Jahan Dotson and Parker Washington are back for their senior and sophomore years, respectively. 

Clifford and company did not have trouble moving the ball last year – they were second in the Big Ten in total yardage per game with 430.3 and third with 29.8 points per game – but they were hindered by a subpar defense. 

Penn State gave up 36 points per game in their first five games and 17.3 points per game in their last four. They had returned just four starters, and it is clear the unit improved as the season progressed. Their defensive line and linebackers should be some of the best in the Big Ten led by middle linebacker Ellis Brooks.