Penn State football redshirt report: Which freshmen have played over the first four weeks?
Penn State has reached the stage of the season where it must make decisions on which first-year players will burn their redshirts. Saturday’s matchup with Northwestern marks the Lions’ fifth game of the year. A handful of freshmen have played in all four contests. That means they can no longer preserve a year of eligibility if they see time on Saturday.
The Lions played young players early in last week’s 33-14 over Central Michigan. However, an inability to pull away from the Chippewas meant that many freshmen probably did not play as much as the staff planned for them to.
Each week, Blue-White Illustrated tracks the redshirt status of each Penn State freshman. Here’s where things stand entering Week 5.
Penn State redshirt report
As always, we start with the Penn State freshmen who have played in every game so far. That group includes quarterback Drew Allar, running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, receiver Omari Evans, defensive tackle Zane Durant, defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton, and linebacker Abdul Carter. That group is the one that is at the play or preserve stage. It would be shocking if the Lions changed course now. These players are clearly green-lit to burn their redshirt. Expect to see them all against the Wildcats.
Against the Chippewas, Allen was the freshmen star. He finished with 111 yards and a touchdown. He now has three scores in the last two weeks.
“That is who he is and who he has been,” head coach James Franklin said. “You guys are starting to see it now. I mean that in terms of we have seen it in the spring and seen it in the summer. A lot more than you have had the opportunity to see.
“I do not think there is anybody in that locker room that is surprised with Kaytron’s success.”
Franklin also pointed out the ‘unique’ fact that Allar has played in all four games. He was two of five for 20 yards.
On defense, Carter netted five more tackles in the win to headline the freshmen contributions on that side of the ball.
Two freshmen Nittany Lions played in their third game of the season on Saturday. Corner Cam Miller played 19 snaps but recorded no counting statistics. Safety KJ Winston, then, made two stops on 12 total defensive reps.
We’ll also note here that even though he’s not a freshman, lineman JB Nelson is a first-year Lion who has also now played in two contests this season.
Finally, linemen Drew Shelton and Vega Ioane did not see time, so they still have only played in one game this year. They have company in that regard now, as defensive backs Cristian Driver and Mehki Flowers made their career debuts late in the victory, as did linebacker Keon Wylie.
Game-by-game breakdown
Four games – QB Drew Allar, RB Nick Singleton, RB Kaytron Allen, WR Omari Evans, DE Dani Dennis-Sutton, DT Zane Durant, LB Abdul Carter
Three Games – CB Cam Miller, Saf. KJ Winston
Two games: WR Kaden Saunders, OL JB Nelson
One game: OL Drew Shelton, OL Vega Ioane, LB Keon Wylie, CB Cristian Driver, Saf. Mehki Flowers,
Zero Games – QB Beau Pribula, WR Anthony Ivey, WR Tyler Johnson, TE Jerry Cross, OL Maleek McNeil, DT Kaleb Artis, P Alex Bacchetta
