Highs & Lows: Penn State begins season with romp

By Nate Bauer

On a sun-kissed late-August afternoon in Beaver Stadium, Penn State opened its 2025 football season by dominating Nevada, 46-11. The businesslike victory sent an announced crowd of 106,915 fans home happy. Here are the highlights:

Highs & Lows: Penn State pounds Nevada for season-opening win

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton toyed with Nevada’s pass protection well into the third quarter. The All-America candidate notched 5 tackles, a sack, a pair of forced fumbles, 2.5 tackles for loss, a pass breakup, and a quarterback hurry, picking up right where he left off in last year’s College Football Playoff.

PLAY OF THE GAME
Penn State’s push to close the first half with a touchdown proved to be a backbreaker for the Nittany Lions’ guests. After PSU converted a short fourth down, Drew Allar found new wideout Kyron Hudson for a 31-yard touchdown to give the Lions a 27-3 lead at the break.

Offensive superlatives

BEST PASS
There were plenty to choose from, but Allar’s connection with wide receiver Trebor Pena for 14 yards in the first half exemplified the type of pitch-and-catch timing the Nittany Lions’ passing game seemed to lack at times last season.

BEST RUN
Kaytron Allen took Allar’s inside handoff left at the 12-yard line. Stopping, starting and rumbling through the Nevada defense and over the pylon, the senior running back gave PSU a 17-0 lead with 10:02 left to play in the first half.

BEST CATCH
The out pattern was so simple, but Hudson’s toe-tapping 14-yard catch on the Nittany Lions’ first possession of the second half was elite, with the senior displaying body control and sure hands.

Defensive superlatives

WORST DROP
Nevada had a good thing going on its first possession of the game until a first-and-10 carry by running back Ky Woods went awry. Cutting left between the hashes, the Wolf Pack ball carrier lost his handle thanks to some timely intervention by Dennis-Sutton, sending both teams scrambling for the ball. Eventually, Penn State cornerback A.J. Harris emerged with it to switch possession to the Nittany Lions for the first time on the afternoon.

BEST SACK
Dennis-Sutton knocked ‘em down, safety Zakee Wheatley picked it up. With Penn State leading 30-3 midway through the third quarter, the Nittany Lions’ defensive end sent Chubba Purdy toward the turf for his first sack of the season. Purdy lost the football, and Wheatley quickly dived on it to secure Penn State’s second turnover of the afternoon. Two plays later, Nicholas Singleton bullied his way through the line for a touchdown.

BEST HIT
It won’t even go in the stat book, but the hit that Dennis-Sutton laid on Nevada running back Herschel Turner on the last play of the first quarter was remarkable. Linebacker Tony Rojas handled the tackle on Purdy, who had kept the ball, for a 4-yard loss.

BEST EFFORT
Zane Durant could have just celebrated the tipped Nevada pass at the line of scrimmage and enjoyed the Wolf Pack being behind the sticks on second down. But, sticking with the play, the senior defensive tackle dipped low to make an interception and rumble down to the 6-yard line. Durant’s pick set up a field goal that gave PSU a 10-0 lead.
Later, running back Cam Wallace jumped over a would-be tackler in the fourth quarter, warranting at least a mention in this space. So too does Ethan Grunkemeyer’s fourth quarter touchdown run, on which he scrambled to his left and over the pylon for the score.

Special teams superlatives

BEST KICK
Kicker Joe McFadden gave the Wolfpack a boost with his 28-yard field goal conversion to put the visitors on the board. With 4:52 left in the first half, the Nittany Lions held a 17-3 advantage.

BEST RETURN

During preseason camp, safety King Mack earned a shot at returning kicks. He made the most of the opportunity against Nevada, fielding a first-half kickoff at the 10-yard line, pushing straight ahead, then heading left across the field for 73 yards to the Wolfpack 18-yard line.

Penn State odds and ends

BEST DECISION
Late in the first half, Penn State faced fourth-and-2 at the 35-yard line with the clock running. Not wasting a moment, head coach James Franklin chose to go for it. The move paid off, first with a 4-yard first-down completion to Devonte Ross, then with a 31-yard strike to Hudson in the end zone. The connection boosted the hosts’ advantage to 27-3 heading into halftime.

WORST DECISION
Somehow, the side judges missed Singleton pushing his way 3 yards into the end zone late in the first quarter. The botched call was fixed on replay, giving the hosts a 7-0 lead.

MOST TELLING MOMENT
The afternoon wasn’t only sunshine for Penn State. Still pushing late in the third quarter, Nevada’s Purdy connected with Marcus Bellon for a 32-yard strike along the right hash mark between the coverage of safety Vaboue Toure and nickel Kenny Woseley. The Nittany Lions buckled down to keep the Wolf Pack from picking up a touchdown, but an opportunity for growth on an otherwise sterling day for the defense emerged down the depth chart. The Wolf Pack scored their only touchdown of the afternoon to close out the game.

---

Talk about it with our premium members in the Lions Den message board, here!