The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: Reviewing Penn State football’s 37-10 win over Nebraska
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Penn State dominated trenches and rushing attack to beat Nebraska 37-10.
- Kaytron Allen reached 3,954 yards and led ground game with 160 yards.
- Grunkemeyer showed starting potential; receiver depth and coaching remain questions.
Penn State dominated Nebraska from start to finish Saturday night to earn a 37-10 Senior Day win over the Cornhuskers. The win pushed the Nittany Lions to 5-6 on the season and one win away from bowl eligibility.
Let’s take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly from Penn State’s win.
Good
Kaytron Allen: How could I not start off with the program’s new all-time leading rusher? This was supposed to be a race between Allen and Nick Singleton, but the former took the backfield over as its workhorse after James Franklin was fired and never looked back. He has been one of the best backs in college football this season and racked up another 160 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries against the Cornhuskers to give him 3,954 rushing yards for his career. He has excellent vision, power and contact balance, which allow him to see a slight opening in a defense and power through any arm tackles as he pushes forward for extra yards. Allen may not have had the same prolific career as other all-time greats, but his reliability and senior breakout have led him to the precipice of being the program’s first 4,000-yard rusher.
Ethan Grunkemeyer: This was undoubtedly Grunkemeyer’s best game as a Nittany Lion. I saw a quarterback who was calm and composed when he felt pressure, and one who wasn’t forced into making bad decisions. More importantly — he was aggressive. Grunkemeyer was consistently looking to push the ball down the field, and even though he didn’t always unfurl those throws, he still went to them first. And when they were open, he let it rip, firing passes down the field and layering them into the intermediate areas to his receivers. Grunkemeyer looks like a starting level quarterback with upside to be more. It will be up to the next head coach to decide if that can be at Penn State — but I’m certain Grunkemeyer will be starting at quarterback somewhere next year.
Dani Dennis-Sutton: Few players have stepped up more under interim head coach Terry Smith than Dennis-Sutton. The defensive end seemingly becomes more unhinged with every passing play, and that tends to help him when he’s rushing the passer. He finished Saturday night’s game with another sack and a pass breakup, and was one of the team’s best players on defense. Dennis-Sutton isn’t a freak athlete, but has tremendous power and can bully offensive linemen who can’t match him physically. And on Saturday night, it was the Nebraska offensive linemen who were on the receiving end of that. He dominated them from the opening snap, which led to him getting after Nebraska quarterback TJ Lateef or pushing the pocket enough to force him off his spot and into scramble situations.
Senior send-off: This season has mostly been a nightmare for Penn State. The Nittany Lions were supposed to compete for a national title but found themselves at 3-3 with their head coach fired at the midpoint of the season. Then came another three losses for a six-game losing streak before a win at Michigan State turned things for the better. Still, there isn’t a ton to play for outside of a meaningless bowl game — which makes Saturday’s result that much sweeter for the team’s seniors. The Nittany Lions, for all of their flaws, did not give up on the season. And because of that players like Allen, Singleton, Dennis-Sutton and many others were able to celebrate on the field, and walk out of Beaver Stadium as winners for one final time.
Bad
Wide receiver production: For all of the good on offense with the running game and the quarterback, the wide receiver position continues to be a problem. I was convinced heading into this season that Devonte Ross could be a No. 1, Kyron Hudson could be a No. 2, and Trebor Peña could be a reliable slot who could occasionally make a big play. Well, those three players combined for six catches for 95 yards against Nebraska — and that’s probably one of their better performances in conference play. The position will see an overhaul next year with all three of those players exhausting eligibility, but Penn State will have to do a much better job with its next three starters than the current three it brought in from the portal. The bright side? Freshman Koby Howard did a nice job of getting open on a 31-yard reception and could be a big part of the future. The downside? There’s no telling who will be on this roster next season because of the coaching change.
Terry Smith’s chances of being the next head coach: I’m certain this will go over like a lead balloon. Look, I know everyone is excited with how Penn State has played in its last two games, and fans will surely love his passion for the university. It’s nice, too, that players ran around with pieces of paper that said “Hire Terry Smith” after the win, and that the crowd was chanting his name all game long. However — and this is where I rain on everyone’s parade — Penn State did not fire Franklin just to turn around and hire his top assistant coach. Maybe that will change and the Nittany Lions will be so inspired by Smith’s performance on the field and at the podium after the game that they decide to hire him. But I doubt it. And at this point it seems more likely that he joins Franklin at Virginia Tech than he stays at Penn State as an assistant if and when he doesn’t get the head job.
Ugly
The trench battle: One of the reasons Smith’s offense and defense looked so good is that the trench battle was brutal for Nebraska. The Nittany Lions got whatever they wanted on either side of the ball up front. The offensive line leaned on the Huskers’ defensive line all night in the running game, creating easy holes for both Singleton and Allen, while protecting Grunkemeyer and giving him plenty of time. The Penn State defensive line was in Lateef’s face all night when he was trying to throw and consistently plugged up any rushing lanes when the Huskers tried to run the ball. If we’re being honest, that’s the real reason for this turnaround — Penn State is playing much better on the offensive line and defensive line the last two weeks than it was before. Part of that might be because Smith has them playing better — and part of it might be that Nebraska and Michigan State have been pretty bad in the trenches.
