The Penn State University (PSU) football team finished their regular season with a 10-2 record. They were rewarded with the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia against Ole Miss on New Year’s Eve.
The Peach Bowl was not one of Penn State’s best games this year, with the score being 38-25 and Ole Miss coming out on top. The Lions fell short in passing yards 394-343, had the edge on rushing yards 167-146, had one more penalty for 24 more yards, and finished with 6 penalties for 24 yards. The Rebels had 30 first downs, while the Lions only had 21. Ole Miss and Penn State had the same percentage for third down conversions being 40%, however, Jaxson Dart (QB for Ole Miss) was 3-3 on fourth down conversions when Penn State was 1-2.
Sophomore Drew Allar was the quarterback for the Nittany Lions this year. According to ESPN, he completed 233 passes on 389 attempts, which is a completion percentage of 60%, a little below elite. He totaled for 2,631 yards this year while averaging 6.8 yards per pass, and on top of that he had 25 total touchdowns with his longest being 75 yards. His most impressive stat of this year has to be that he only threw two interceptions all year.
Nick Singleton (PSU starting running back) had a very impressive sophomore year. He had 752 yards on 171 carries, while averaging 4.4 yards per carry. His longest rushing touchdown was 24 yards. Nick played a big part in the passing game as well. He racked up 308 yards on 26 receptions, averaging 11.8 yards per reception. Singleton’s longest reception was 53 yards. His most impressive stats for the 2023 year was that he did not allow any turnovers.
Number 13 for PSU is Kaytron Allen. He also played running back and had a very impressive year. He was averaging 5.2 yards per carry, on 172 career carries for 902 yards on the season. He had six total touchdowns with his longest being 50 yards. He was also a target through the air as well, 14 receptions for 81 yards, with one touchdown. Same as Singleton, Allen had no turnovers, according to ESPN.
On the other side of the ball PSU had Daequan Hardy. He played cornerback for Penn State. He had a total of 22 tackles, and of those tackles ? were solo, one of those tackles was a sack. He had two interceptions and averaged a one-yard return between the two. On top of this Hardy also had seven passes deflected. ESPN reports that Hardy played as the punt returner and he had two house calls returning two punts for touchdowns.
At the linebacker position the Nittany Lions had Abdul Carter wearing number 11. If you don’t know, wearing number 11 at Penn State as a linebacker is a big deal, as it resembles a captain role, and he is only a sophomore. According to ESPN, Carter racked up 49 tackles and 26 of those tackles were solo. He also had 4.5 sacks with one forced fumble, with an interception. Abdul Carter is a great leader and has a bright future at Penn State and potentially in the NFL.
Penn State’s leading tackler was Kevin Winston Jr. at safety. He made 60 tackles, with over half of them being solo, 35, as reported by ESPN. Winston Jr. had two forced fumbles as well, with 5 pass deflections. He is only a sophomore so that means he has one more year until he can declare for the NFl draft. So we have this star for at least another season.
James Franklin is the head coach at Penn State. The recruiting class of 2024 is loaded. A couple of big names have entered the transfer portal and chose Happy Valley as their destination. One of the big names was five star tight end Luck Reynolds. Reynolds is 6’4, 220lbs, and an absolute tank. He is a senior out of Cheshire CT. There are many, many more star freshmen coming into Happy Valley, but there was one former five star wide receiver that transferred from Ohio State to Penn State, Julian Fleming. Julian is ranked as the 47 best player in the country, as well as the 9th best wide receiver in the country. Julian has one more year of eligibility as he goes into his senior year. It is safe to say that Penn State Football has a bright future ahead.
