Penn State DE Dani Dennis-Sutton already making case as one of country’s best
Even when Saturday’s game was over, Penn State defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton still attempted to energize the Beaver Stadium crowd.
An obvious candidate for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week, the high-motor defender walked up to the victory bell after the 46-11 win over Nevada and proceeded to wildly tug at the rope more than a dozen times, with the student section growing louder with every ring. (Most players stuck to four rings or fewer.) His teammates just smiled talking about the move.
“That’s just him. That’s what he does,” teammate and linebacker Amare Campbell said. “That’s just him expressing himself and showing love to the fans and showing love to the people. He had a great game, and he’s expressing that to the other people.”
He had a lot to express. Dennis-Sutton became the first Nittany Lion to force two fumbles in the same game since PSU great Micah Parsons did it in 2019. (He had two forced fumbles across 16 games last season.) Despite playing sparingly in the second half due to it being a blowout, the senior still racked up 2.5 tackles for loss, a sack, a pass breakup and a QB hurry.
He was picking up right where he left off. During the Nittany Lions’ playoff run, over three games, Dennis-Sutton had 4.5 sacks, a forced fumble and an interception.
On Saturday, his dominance didn’t waver. After recording his only sack midway through the third quarter, the high-energy DE turned to the crowd, tilted his head back, bent his knees and roared. At 6-foot-5 and 265 pounds, Nevada’s offense might’ve had better luck stopping a Grizzly.
“When you play with that type of effort, good things happen,” coach James Franklin said, adding Dennis-Sutton’s motor is always turned to 100. “And he is hungry, he is motivated, he is driven. He wants to be great. A lot of guys say they want to be great. This guy eats, sleeps and dreams football and wants to be special. And he’s been that way since we recruited him and since he’s been on campus, and just continues to get better.”
Dennis-Sutton didn’t mince words when asked Saturday about his goals this season. He could’ve opted to declare for the 2025 NFL Draft, alongside former teammate Abdul Carter, but he stayed for two reasons — a national championship and to become the country’s best defensive end.
That latter goal has been on his mind since high school. Has the receipts to prove it; in fact, he still has a March 2022 tweet pinned to the top of his social-media account: “I will be the best defensive end in CFB.”
“Yeah, I’m trying to leave a legacy,” Dennis-Sutton told reporters Saturday. “Once again, I came back to prove a point.”
Dennis-Sutton’s dominant performance Saturday comes as fans and pundits alike wondered whether the defensive end could live up to the legacy of his teammate last year in Carter, who was the No. 3 selection in the 2025 NFL Draft. Although the stat sheet doesn’t always tell the full story, it appeared to answer those questions with an exclamation mark in the season opener.
Nevada’s offensive line won’t be the best Dennis-Sutton sees this season — far from it — but the defensive end’s effort, energy and ability were consistently high for the duration of the game. That kind of drive doesn’t fade, and it bodes well for this defensive line moving forward.
Don’t expect Dennis-Sutton to grow complacent, either. He refused to answer how close he was to becoming the country’s best defensive end, twice deflecting the question after the big win. That may be the goal but, right now, Dennis-Sutton still thinks he can be better.
“I’m my hardest critic, so I always see the negative things I got to work on and get better at,” he said. “So I got a lot of room to grow.”
That’s a message opposing offenses don’t want to hear. And, if Dennis-Sutton continues at this pace, he has a very real shot at his two goals — along with an opportunity for a lot more visits to the victory bell.
This story was originally published August 30, 2025 at 10:32 PM.