Smooth. In control. Powerful.
In a 46-11 win over Nevada, Penn State started its 2025 campaign with little questions and little concerns on Saturday.
And if there were any surprises, they were (mostly) positive.
It was a confident afternoon inside a semi-renovated Beaver Stadium for Penn State in every single way that an opening game against a Group of Five opponent should be.
Penn State’s defense, which opened the game with a fumble recovery by AJ Harris, spent all afternoon stifling Nevada’s offense.
Penn State’s offense, answering the Harris fumble recovery with a touchdown by Nicholas Singleton, owned possession relentlessly.
Aside from drives that ended in three points rather than six and one botched snap, the Drew Allar-led offense settled doubting nerves, looking confident, poised and relaxed as he spun the ball for 217 passing yards. Most notably, his equity with the ball – finding six different pass catchers on the afternoon – was centered around a passing game to wide receivers, the biggest question mark entering the 2025 season.
Transfer newcomers Trebor Peña and Kyron Hudson tallied seven and six receptions, respectively, to lead Penn State. It was the first time a Penn State wide receiver outright led the Nittany Lions in receptions since last season’s opener against West Virginia.
In particular, Hudson – touted this offseason for his hands in part from a viral catch against LSU while at USC – made several impressive catches and repeatedly found separation against the Wolfpack offense. For Penn State’s third touchdown of the day, Allar and Hudson connected on a 31-yard pass in which the now-senior quarterback rolled through the pocket to step up and find Hudson relatively alone in the left of the end zone.
Later in the game, Hudson made a toe-tapping catch along the sidelines to once again display the hands and separation Penn State was in need of several times last year. Even Penn State’s third transfer wide receiver Devonte Ross added a catch of his own as well as that trio of receivers dominated much of the meaningful reps on the afternoon. That trio snagged 16 of Allar’s 22 completions in a clear changing of the guard for Penn State’s offense under Andy Kotelnicki.
It was a refreshing reprieve from Penn State’s recent struggles among the wide receiver corps – even when the talent gap between the Nittany Lions and Nevada was noticeable.
Penn State scored all but one of its possessions (one that came deep into the fourth quarter of the game) to hammer home that talent advantage.
That gap was equally as noticeable on defense. In particular, Dani Dennis-Sutton picked up where he left off in the team’s College Football Playoff run in the leader-like fashion that this Nittany Lion defense will need from him to be successful in 2025.
The junior contributed to all three of Penn State’s takeaways, becoming the first Nittany Lion with two forced fumbles in a game since Micah Parsons in the 2019 Cotton Bowl. His pressure also contributed to a Zane Durant interception in the first half.
Penn State’s defense held the Wolfpack to just 203 yards and Dennis-Sutton looked to be the game-wrecking part that the Lions will need later in the season.
Even Penn State’s special teams looked smooth – except for one funky two-point conversion attempt – as Ryan Barker notched four field goals, his longest coming from 39 yards away. King Mack, who transferred back to Penn State after time at Alabama, also offered a strong 73-yard kickoff return, showcasing his speed in his switch to that role.
While questions weren’t necessarily answered, given the opponent quality, questions and concerns weren’t exacerbated by Penn State’s performance on Saturday.
It was a calm afternoon and a calm, stout performance from Penn State in every way that it should have been against a team like Nevada. And it will likely be that way with two more cracks against non-conference opponents FIU and Villanova before Big Ten play begins against Oregon.
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