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USA Today
21 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Trio of Penn State players named to Maxwell Award watch list
With college football's conference media days in the rearview mirror and the start of the new season less than a month away, watch list season is in full bloom. With raised expectations for team success in 2025, Penn State is already being well-represented on some high-profile award watch lists this summer, including the Maxwell Award. This week saw three of Penn State's finest named to the watch list for the Maxwell Award by the Maxwell Football Club. The three players representing Penn State on the list are quarterback Drew Allar, and running backs Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton. All three offensive stars chose to return to Penn State this season to attend to some unfinished business. Allar, Singleton, and Allen give Penn State one of the top backfields in college football coming back this season and are a big reason why the Nittany Lions are being labeled a top preseason Big Ten and national championship contender. Singleton was named a preseason All-America by the Walter Camp Football Foundation for the 2025 season after a being an honorable mention All-Big Ten player on offense and special teams as a return specialist. Singleton will start the season as the nation's leading rusher returning this season with 2,912 career rushing yards and 32 career rushing touchdowns. Allen earned second-team All-Big Ten honors last season despite playing in the same backfield and splitting playing time with Singleton. Allen has rushed for 2,877 yards in his career with 24 rushing touchdowns and an average of 5.1 yards per rushing attempt. Only Singleton has more career rushing yards among players returning in 2025 across the nation. Head coach James Franklin believes these two could end their careers taking over the top two spots in the Penn State rushing record book when all is said and done. Allar was a Davey O'Brien semifinalist last season after passing for 3,327 yards and 24 touchdowns and rushing for 302 yards and six touchdowns. He will enter the 2025 season ranked sixth in all-time in Penn State history wiht 6,302 career passing yards. Allar was an honorable mention All-BigTen player a season ago after leading the Nittany Lions to the Big Ten championship game and a run to the semifinal in the College Football Playoff. The Maxwell Award is presented to the nation's college football player of the year and has been awarded annually since 1937. The Heisman Trophy may be the most notable individual award in college football, but the Maxwell Award is a high honor as well. Penn State has had seven all-time winners of the Maxwell Award, tied with Notre Dame for the most. Penn State's previous winners are Richie Lucas (1959), Glenn Ressler (1964), Mike Reid (1969), John Cappelletti (1973), Chuck Fusina (1978), Kerry Collins (1994), and Larry Johnson (2002). Last year's winner of the Maxwell Award was Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty. The last Big Ten player to win the award was Penn State's Larry Johnson in 2002. Although it is worth recognizing that USC and Washington had back-to-back winners with Caleb Williams and Michael Penix Jr. in 2002 and 2023, respectively, as members of the Pac-12. Follow Kevin McGuire on Threads, Bluesky, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Follow Nittany Lions Wire on X, Facebook, and Threads.
USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Georgia transfer CB named to first-team All-Big Ten
Penn State Nittany Lions cornerback A.J. Harris has been named to Pro Football Focus' All-Big Ten team. Harris is a first-team selection and has drawn significant media recognition ahead of the 2025 college football season. Harris is a former five-star recruit and is coming off a strong sophomore season where he helped the Nittany Lions advance to the College Football Playoff semifinals. As a sophomore, Harris recorded 48 tackles, one interception and five pass deflections. Harris had a much larger role with Penn State than he did with Georgia (eight tackles) back in 2023. The rising junior projected as a first-round pick in the 2026 NFL draft. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound cornerback will be a key contributor on a loaded Penn State team. The Nittany Lions are expected to be among the top national championship contenders this year. Penn State returns a veteran team led by quarterback Drew Allar and running backs Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton. Losing Harris via the transfer portal was a major loss for Georgia. However, Georgia at least has a first-team All-SEC cornerback in Daylen Everette. Harris (2023) along with quarterback Carson Beck (2024) and outside linebacker Damon Wilson (2024) are some of Georgia's most painful transfer exits in recent memory. Follow UGAWire on Instagram or Threads for more Georgia football coverage!
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
When will Penn State lose its first game in 2025?
Penn State is gearing up for one of the most anticipated college football seasons in some time. Following up a trip to the Big Ten championship and semifinal round of the College Football Playoff last season has raised the bar for the Nittany Lions going into the 2025 season, which is why many in college football media appear to be thinking this could be a big season in Happy Valley. But running the gauntlet from start to finish in college football is no easy task, especially with the prospect of a 16 or 17-game season with the postseason lumped into the equation. Essentially, the odds are fairly good Penn State will lose at least one game this college football season. When will that be? That is the big question. CBS Sports ran through each team in the Big Ten to share some predictions on when each team will take its first loss of the season. The first major test for Penn State should be a home game against defending Big Ten champion Oregon in the whiteout game in late September. Fortunately, these CBS predictions are calling for Penn State to hand Oregon its first loss of the season that night. If the CBS predictions are accurate, then Penn State will survive a trip to UCLA the following week and a road trip to Iowa, which is rarely an easy task. But the winning ways may be snapped by Penn State's biggest nemesis over the past few decades, with another road game at Ohio State. On paper, Penn State looks to have more going well for it at the start of the season compared to the Buckeyes, despite Ohio State coming off a national championship run last season. That run included a victory over Penn State, of course, as the Nittany Lions clammed up on offense in a familiar way against the most important measuring stick Penn State has had over the years of Big Ten play. But Penn State has won in Columbus just twice since joining the Big Ten in 1993, and these predictions from CBS should feel comfortable with this trend heavily in its favor. It may be worth noting that CBS predicts Penn State will be the last team in the Big Ten to take a loss. Indiana and Minnesota are the only other teams predicted to get into at least October without a loss, in addition to Penn State. Penn State will open the season on Aug. 30 at home against Nevada. Unless CBS is way off the mark, the Nittany Lions should be cruising to a 1-0 start to the season. Follow Kevin McGuire on Threads, Bluesky, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Follow Nittany Lions Wire on X, Facebook, and Threads. This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: CBS Sports predicts first loss for Penn State football
USA Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
When will Penn State lose its first game in 2025?
Penn State is gearing up for one of the most anticipated college football seasons in some time. Following up a trip to the Big Ten championship and semifinal round of the College Football Playoff last season has raised the bar for the Nittany Lions going into the 2025 season, which is why many in college football media appear to be thinking this could be a big season in Happy Valley. But running the gauntlet from start to finish in college football is no easy task, especially with the prospect of a 16 or 17-game season with the postseason lumped into the equation. Essentially, the odds are fairly good Penn State will lose at least one game this college football season. When will that be? That is the big question. CBS Sports ran through each team in the Big Ten to share some predictions on when each team will take its first loss of the season. The first major test for Penn State should be a home game against defending Big Ten champion Oregon in the whiteout game in late September. Fortunately, these CBS predictions are calling for Penn State to hand Oregon its first loss of the season that night. If the CBS predictions are accurate, then Penn State will survive a trip to UCLA the following week and a road trip to Iowa, which is rarely an easy task. But the winning ways may be snapped by Penn State's biggest nemesis over the past few decades, with another road game at Ohio State. On paper, Penn State looks to have more going well for it at the start of the season compared to the Buckeyes, despite Ohio State coming off a national championship run last season. That run included a victory over Penn State, of course, as the Nittany Lions clammed up on offense in a familiar way against the most important measuring stick Penn State has had over the years of Big Ten play. But Penn State has won in Columbus just twice since joining the Big Ten in 1993, and these predictions from CBS should feel comfortable with this trend heavily in its favor. It may be worth noting that CBS predicts Penn State will be the last team in the Big Ten to take a loss. Indiana and Minnesota are the only other teams predicted to get into at least October without a loss, in addition to Penn State. Penn State will open the season on Aug. 30 at home against Nevada. Unless CBS is way off the mark, the Nittany Lions should be cruising to a 1-0 start to the season. Follow Kevin McGuire on Threads, Bluesky, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Follow Nittany Lions Wire on X, Facebook, and Threads.
USA Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Report: Notre Dame to unofficially host 5-star Penn State commit in hopes of a flip
The recruiting battles between Notre Dame and Penn State continue, and this time it's the Irish attempting to flip a 2027 Nittany Lions commit. Kemon Spell made his verbal to PSU in August of 2024, but according to a report by 247Sports Tom Loy, the 5-foot, 9-inch and 205-pound star running back will make an unofficial trip to South Bend when they host Texas A&M on Sept. 13th. That's not the only visit the country's No. 9 overall prospect according the 247Sports Composite will visit, as trips to see Penn State, Florida State and Alabama will happen during the season as well. The report also states that Spell will try and make it out to a game against Ohio State, all of which means that he most likely could be heading towards flipping to another school. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out, but the Irish would love to have another 5-star prospect entering its program. At the current moment, Notre Dame has three commits in the 2027 class, highlighted by quarterback Teddy Jarrard. We are sure that he'd love to see Spell in the backfield with him in South Bend. Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions. Follow Mike on X: @MikeFChen
