The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: Reviewing Penn State football’s 46-11 win over Nevada
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Dennis-Sutton led Penn State’s defense with 2.5 TFLs, 2 forced fumbles and a sack.
- Transfer receiver Kyron Hudson paced the offense with 89 yards and a touchdown.
- Grunkemeyer impressed as backup QB, completing 7 of 9 passes and rushing for a score.
Penn State trounced Nevada Saturday in its season opener at Beaver Stadium, with a 46-11 win over the Wolf Pack getting PSU to 1-0 to start the season.
Let’s get right into the good, the bad, and the ugly from the Nittany Lions’ victory.
Good
Dani Dennis-Sutton: Penn State’s star defensive end was the star of the show in the season opener, picking up where he left off from the College Football Playoff. Dennis-Sutton was constantly in Nevada’s backfield, blowing up plays until he was taken out of the blowout in the third quarter. He finished the game with 2.5 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, a pass breakup and a sack for the Nittany Lions. There was some skepticism about whether Dennis-Sutton would be able to fill Abdul Carter’s shoes now that he’s off to the NFL, but the Penn State defensive end quelled those concerns.
The level of competition was lower than what PSU will face in its biggest games, but I didn’t see anything that wouldn’t translate to matchups with teams like Ohio State and Oregon. Dennis-Sutton might be the best defensive end in the country and I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re talking about him as a top-10 pick by the time the 2026 NFL Draft rolls around.
Kyron Hudson: There was a lot of excitement — and a little bit of trepidation — about how the three transfer receivers would play on Saturday, but they more than delivered. I’ll start with Hudson, because he was easily the least heralded pickup in the portal, but might be the best one. He was mostly known for a circus catch in USC’s season opener against LSU last year, but failed to reach 500 yards with the Trojans. That seems like it was more of a USC problem than a Hudson problem.
He was clearly the best receiver on the field for Penn State, making a beautiful toe-tap catch along the sideline and hauling in a long touchdown pass from quarterback Drew Allar for a final tally of six catches for 89 yards and a touchdown. Hudson may not have the quickness of Devonte Ross or the elite route-running of Trebor Peña, but he’s a high-level receiver who could be the team’s statistical leader at the position this season.
Trebor Peña: Hudson is the No. 1, in all likelihood, but that’s not a knock on Peña, who was consistently open against the Wolf Pack. He’s at his best in the slot where defenders don’t have the benefit of the sideline to slow him down, and excelled there on Saturday. He hauled in seven of his eight targets for 74 yards and proved to be a consistent option for Allar in the middle of the field. Peña might not be a prototypical height-weight-speed athletic marvel, but he’s going to be an important piece of the offense this season and the first game was a good start.
It’s important to note here, too, that Ross was limited as he continues to work his way back from “bumps and bruises,” as James Franklin put it. I would anticipate him being a much bigger part of the offense when he’s healthy.
Drew Allar: No, Saturday wasn’t the beginning of a Heisman-campaign for Allar — though I’m still not ruling that out later this year — but he was very good. He missed a touchdown early to Hudson that he threw just behind him (I’ve heard some people argue that Hudson has to haul that in — I disagree, Allar has to make a better throw), but outside of that was on target on his simpler throws. Those are going to be important this year because, with offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki calling plays and a revamped receiver room, there should be a lot more of them.
It helps that Allar also connected on a few passes that were a high degree of difficulty — like the one that Hudson tapped his toes to bring in on the sideline and the touchdown to the former USC receiver that required Allar to reset his weight after rolling to his left and drop a time to him in the corner of the endzone. It wasn’t a perfect day for the Penn State quarterback, but it was a good one. And in the season opener, there’s nothing wrong with that.
Chaz Coleman: The buzz around Chaz Coleman continued to grow as fall camp progressed, bringing into question whether he would be able to live up to the hype that was building. On Saturday, he did. Coleman would have been the best defensive end on the field if not for Dennis-Sutton looking like the best in the country at his position. He showed off his athleticism, using his burst to beat Nevada’s tackles around the edge and throwing in some pass rush moves — like the spin move that seemed to get him in the backfield instantaneously — that were extremely impressive for someone who didn’t enroll at Penn State until after spring ball was over.
There’s no guarantee that Coleman continues on this trajectory, but right now I don’t see any reason to think he won’t keep improving. So much so that I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a starter at the position before the season ends.
Bad
Chances of Jaxon Smolik winning the backup QB job: Penn State James Franklin said Wednesday that Ethan Grunkemeyer would be the backup quarterback “this week,” but I have to think that’s going to be true for the rest of the season. Grunkemeyer looked very good on Saturday when he got extended reps in the second half, completing seven of his nine passing attempts for 86 yards and rushing for a touchdown. Most importantly, he was much more in control than he was last season in the reps he got. He had much more poise on Saturday and was more willing to work through his progression and make the right decisions rather than panicking in the pocket.
It’s only one game, and it’s against a poor opponent, but Grunkemeyer looks more than deserving of the nod at backup quarterback. Frankly, he looked like someone that could be a starter as early as next year, which would be a massive win for Penn State and allow them not to go looking for a starter for 2026 in the portal this offseason.
Ugly
Running game: I am not concerned about the running game. That’s important to note. But that part of the offense was mostly bad on Saturday. Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen combined for 16 carries for 62 yards, with most of that coming from Allen’s eight carries for 43 yards. The problem wasn’t the running backs, either, it was the offensive line. That’s not ideal after a preseason that included legitimate commentary that this might be the best offensive line in the country (I was one of the people saying those things). Still, it’s difficult to be concerned about a poor game when Nevada was so clearly selling out on stopping the run and trying to make the receivers win on the outside.
So, no, it wasn’t good. But I also don’t know that it will matter much in the long run. In fact, I expect this to be a blip on the radar rather than anything to actually be concerned about.
