Penn State vs. Clemson: Will the Nittany Lions’ season end with a Pinstripe Bowl win?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Pinstripe Bowl serves as 2026 evaluation, giving young Penn State players reps
- Interim co-defensive coordinator Poindexter will simplify defense, speed play
- Coin-flip outcome; Penn State holds slight edge as many players play final game
Penn State ends its 2025 season Saturday with a bowl matchup. The Nittany Lions will play the Clemson Tigers in Pinstripe Bowl in a matchup of teams who had high expectations in the preseason. Here are some final thoughts and predictions ahead of the matchup.
Which young players stand out?
This game may represent the end of the 2025 season, but it’s really about collecting information on players that could be helpful for the 2026 season now that a new head coach will be in charge. This will be an excellent opportunity for a number of young players who either didn’t see the field much or at all. Several Penn State players have opted out of the game, and even more are likely to be on limited reps. That will open the door for those young players to get increased reps and show what they can do — either for Penn State or their next program they can go to in the transfer portal.
There are a number of players this applies to, including running backs Corey Smith and Cam Wallace, wide receivers Koby Howard and Tyseer Denmark, defensive end Yvan Kemajou, defensive tackle Xavier Gilliam and a litany of other young players. This will be their opportunity to increase their value and show they can have larger roles next season. And the most interesting thing to look at postgame will be which Nittany Lions improved their future by how they play against Clemson.
How does Poindexter do as defensive coordinator?
We’ve seen this before from co-defensive coordinator Anthony Poindexter, as he’s been the interim DC in the past, but I find this situation much more interesting. Former defensive coordinator Jim Knowles ran a very different defense than previous coordinators at Penn State did, and I have to imagine Poindexter has spent the better part of the last month narrowing the playbook down to simplify things for the players and allow them to play faster. It would not be a surprise if — despite the talent deficit with players like defensive tackle Zane Durant and safety Zakee Wheatley sitting out — Penn State has one of its better defensive performances.
I’d expect Poindexter to be more straightforward in his play-calling, taking advantage of the talent his team has rather than trying to overthink the situation. That should allow players to not think and just play, which was an emphasis for the Nittany Lions down the stretch of the season. Where Poindexter will be next season remains up in the air, but what he does on Saturday afternoon will likely help his cause and give him a chance to take another step forward in his career.
Who plays their last game at Penn State?
There will be plenty of players who will wear the blue and white for the final time on Saturday, for various reasons. There are seniors like Dom DeLuca, Nick Dawkins and Trebor Peña who are out of eligibility once the final whistle blows. And there are players with eligibility remaining who could enter the transfer portal, like quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer and wide receiver Tyseer Denmark. That category is one that could be a rather large one, but it’s also an extremely uncertain one. There are a group of players who have already declared their intentions to leave and are no longer with the team, like cornerbacks A.J. Harris and Elliot Washington II.
But there will inevitably be Nittany Lions who play on Saturday and then leave the team for what comes next. Some will make that decision on their own to pursue something else, while others will be encouraged to make it in order to help pare down the roster under a new head coach. Regardless, the list of Penn State players who will play their final game with the program on Saturday will be long, and it’s worth taking in what will be the final game of a 12-year era led, for the most part, by James Franklin.
Final predictions
Penn State 21, Clemson 20: These teams are likely to be a shell of themselves due to opt-outs and limited snap counts for the best players on either side of the field, which makes predicting an outcome much more difficult than usual. It seems that fewer Penn State players will end up opting out of the game, which should give it an edge, although quarterback Cade Klubnik playing for Clemson will certainly help the Tigers. This game is a true coin flip, but the Nittany Lions get the slight edge because it has been better offensively this season.
MVP: Penn State running back Corey Smith. The Nittany Lions will need to rely on its young runners with Singleton opting out and Allen likely to see a very limited workload. That should mean added carries for players like Cam Wallace and Corey Smith, but I’ll go with Smith because he’s a big play threat. The Penn State running back has a chance to put on a show with his — and everyone else’s — status up in the air for next year. I’ll say he goes off against the Tigers, running the ball 13 times for 107 yards, while catching two passes for 23 yards and a touchdown.
The last word
Penn State interim head coach Terry Smith on players being on a snap count in the game:
“Each kid is a case by case basis. The challenge is, you want to play your veteran guys. You want to give them the snaps they need, but you do not want to put them in jeopardy. You want to see your young guys participate, and ultimately, we want to win the football game. So we’re going to call the game to win the game, and we’re going to play the guys that’s necessary in the roles that is necessary to win the game. But it’s a hard balance of doing right by those guys and doing right by the team, so I have to manage that, and like I said, we’ll be ready to play next Saturday.”
