Penn State redshirt report: Where do the first-year Lions stand with one regular season game to go?
Penn State has just two games to go in the 2022 season. The Nittany Lions are 9-2 and have an opportunity to win a tenth game in the regular season when Michigan State visits. Kickoff at Beaver Stadium on Senior Day is set for 4 p.m. ET on FOX Sports One.
The Lions beat Rutgers 55-10 last Saturday at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, N.J. Eleven first-year Penn State players saw snaps in the win. And, one of them burned his redshirt.
Let’s dive into the penultimate redshirt report of the regular season.
Penn State redshirt report entering Week 13
We start where we do almost every week: With Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen. The first-year Penn State running backs continue to make game-changing plays on a weekly basis. In this game, Singleton took a kick return 100 yards for a touchdown while Allen finished a team-high 11 carries for 117 yards and a touchdown.
“We got two running backs that are our erasers for us, that make big plays,” head coach James Franklin said.
“There’s a really cool stat if I can find it. Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton are the first freshmen duo in Big Ten history with 700 plus yards in the same season which is a great stat. So, lots of good things.”
Drew Shelton is the Nittany Lion who burned his redshirt by playing in his fifth game of the year.
“With Drew (Shelton), we had a bunch of conversations,” Franklin said. We were going to start JB (Nelson) at tackle this week, but then we still would have been in a tough spot with JB as well based on games. As a coaching staff had a conversation with Drew’s mom, had a conversation with Drew. He wants to play.
“We feel like he gives us the best opportunity right now and playing seven games as a true freshman with a good percentage of them as the starter, that’s a worthwhile burned red shirt, if that makes sense. So just had that conversation, made sure we’re all on the same page and then kind of go from there.”
Linebacker Abdul Carter is another name frequently mentioned in this space. He had four tackles and a sack. Quarterback Drew Allar, meanwhile, was five of 10 for 42 yards and also had a rushing touchdown.
Omari Evans, Cam Miller, KJ Winston, Zane Durant, Dani Dennis-Sutton, Kaleb Artis, and Alex Bacchetta also played, with Artis making his season debut in the fourth quarter.
Lions game-by-game redshirt report
Eleven games (burned redshirt) – RB Nick Singleton, RB Kaytron Allen, DE Dani Dennis-Sutton, DT Zane Durant, LB Abdul Carter
Ten games (burned redshirt): S KJ Winston, WR Omari Evans
Nice games (burned redshirt) – CB Cam Miller, QB Drew Allar
Five games (burned redshirt): OL Drew Shelton
Three games: OL JB Nelson
Two games: WR Kaden Saunders, OL Vega Ioane, LB Keon Wylie, P Alex Bacchetta
One game: CB Cristian Driver, Saf. Mehki Flowers, DT Kaleb Artis
Zero Games – QB Beau Pribula, WR Anthony Ivey, WR Tyler Johnson, TE Jerry Cross
