Penn State category, Page 14
Zane Durant’s decision to skip 2025 NFL draft a crucial benefit for Penn State
It’s NFL declaration time for a collection of draft-eligible Penn State players in the wake of the Nittany Lions’ College Football Playoff semifinal loss to Notre Dame. And on Saturday morning, two days after the Orange Bowl, James Franklin and his staff got some great news. Zane Durant, Penn State’s...
RB Nick Singleton starred in the Orange Bowl, which might have been his final game at Penn State
MIAMI — Penn State’s postgame locker room was — aside from an expletive or two — silent. The Nittany Lions were less than an hour removed from losing to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinal. There were hugs. There were tears. Standing off to the side was Penn...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: James Franklin is a Penn State hero, so why all the hate?
To Penn State fans, James Franklin should be a hero. Penn State made the Big Ten championship game and the College Football Playoff semifinals. Any Penn State supporter would have been salivating at that prospect before the season. The Nittany Lions were very competitive in both those games, losing to...
Penn State QB Drew Allar reflects on interception in CFP Orange Bowl loss to Notre Dame
MIAMI — Drew Allar sat on the Hard Rock Stadium grass alone, slamming the ground with both hands after making the biggest mistake of his football career. While Notre Dame celebrated, offensive lineman Drew Shelton helped his quarterback to his feet. Walking back to the Penn State sideline, Allar put...
Penn State defensive end Abdul Carter to enter NFL Draft
It doesn’t come as a surprise, but Penn State’s biggest star is off to the next level. Junior defensive end Abdul Carter will forgo his final year of college eligibility and declare for the NFL Draft, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Friday morning. The edge rusher widely has been...
Notre Dame’s late interception dooms Penn State in Orange BowlVideo
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Penn State quarterback Drew Allar said he was trying to throw the ball into the ground. Notre Dame defensive back Christian Gray dove for it anyway and — luck of the Irish — the ball ended up right in his hands. A few seconds later, Gray...
Trip to CFP title game on the line when Notre Dame, Penn State meet in Orange Bowl
DANIA BEACH, Fla. — It’s been a long time since Notre Dame or Penn State reached college football’s mountaintop as national champion. It was 1988 for the Fighting Irish, 1986 for the Nittany Lions. There’s been good seasons and bad seasons in the three-plus decades that have followed, coaching changes...
Penn State coach James Franklin calls for college football to have uniformity
DANIA BEACH, Fla. — The Big Ten plays nine conference games in football. So does the Big 12. The SEC and the ACC are among those playing eight-game league schedules. The Mountain West played a seven-game league slate. Notre Dame doesn’t have a league. Enough, Penn State coach James Franklin...
A plot twist from what college football has become: A player who stayedVideo
DANIA BEACH, Fla. — When Penn State moved a different linebacker into what had been Tyler Elsdon’s starting spot, Elsdon made a choice that doesn’t really fit into the storyline college football has been selling these days. He stayed right where he was. In an era in which NIL money,...
James Franklin, Marcus Freeman look to become 1st Black coaches to win national titleVideo
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — In college basketball, the scene of a Black coach cutting down the nets on their way to a national title is not new, even if it is still a relative rarity. John Thompson led Georgetown to the championship in 1984, the first of four Black coaches...
Penn State players staying vigilant about managing bodies as long season continues
Penn State has enough experience on its extended coaching staff and roster to feel confident regarding preparation. Yet there’s no denying that, as they prepare to face Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinals, the Nittany Lions are swimming in uncharted waters. Players are staying vigilant as an already-long...
Penn State WR Omari Evans reaching full potential as CFP run continuesVideo
Despite staunch internal support, especially from quarterback Drew Allar, ongoing critiques of their collective performance have not escaped the attention of Penn State’s wide receivers. Dating to last year, the receivers arguably have been the team’s most maligned position group. As the 2024 campaign got underway, those players wanted to...
Penn State rally comes up short against Indiana at The Palestra
PHILADELPHIA — Oumar Ballo scored 25 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as Indiana held off a late rally to beat Penn State, 77-71, on Sunday in a game played at The Palestra in Philadelphia. The game was the fifth Big Ten contest Penn State has held at “The Cathedral of...
Penn State, Notre Dame take stock of one another as Orange Bowl prep intensifies
In boxing, there’s usually a brief delay before the fighters close in on one another and start exchanging punches. Steadily, they will close the distance from opposite ends of the ring, feeling each other out for a bit until that inevitable moment when it’s time to begin delivering blows. Ahead...
Nick Singleton, Kaytron Allen power hot Penn State rushing attack into CFP semifinalsVideo
Any time Penn State tight end Tyler Warren moves in motion, opposing defenses take notice. Warren, the undisputed starring actor within opponents’ film preparations for the Nittany Lions, has earned that kind of attention. Through 15 games, as Penn State continues its College Football Playoff run, no team has fully...
Notre Dame and Penn State will renew a long-dormant rivalry in a CFP semifinal at the Orange Bowl
NEW ORLEANS — No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 5 Penn State are coming off rather divergent College Football Playoff quarterfinal experiences as they prepare to clash as semifinalists in the Orange Bowl next Thursday. The Fighting Irish (13-1, CFP No. 7) mustered an opportunistic victory over SEC champion Georgia...
CFP semifinals by the numbers: All 4 teams are members of the exclusive 900-win club
The College Football Playoff expanded to 12 teams to get some new blood. The final four are decidedly blueblood. The semifinals match Penn State against Notre Dame at the Orange Bowl on Jan. 9 and Texas against Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 10. All four teams are...
Zach Hicks scores 20 points, Penn State moves to 9-0 at home
UNIVERSITY PARK — Zach Hicks scored 20 points to lead four in double figures, and Penn State held off Northwestern for an 84-80 victory Thursday night. Ace Baldwin Jr. scored 15 of his 17 points from the line and had seven assists and five steals for Penn State. Puff Johnson...
As CFP run continues, Penn State aims to bounce back from season high in penalties during Fiesta BowlVideo
When he sits down with reporters after games, Penn State coach James Franklin is known to dive into a multitude of statistical categories he deems “battles” as he delivers an opening statement before taking questions. “Turnover battle? We won that.” “Explosive play battle? Lost that.” And so Franklin will go,...
U mad, bro?: Readers welcome ’25 with familiar angst over Steelers, media coverage, College Football Playoff
The first “U mad, bro?” of 2025 appears to be very similar to what we saw a lot of in 2024: Pittsburgh Steelers fans complaining about the state of the team. Or, Steelers fans complaining about me complaining about the state of the team — with just a pinch of...
Penn State takes simple approach during ride into CFP semifinals
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Football coaches, perhaps more than other sports, are huge proponents of structure, routine and consistent messaging. Since the early days of his time in Happy Valley, Penn State’s James Franklin has adhered to the philosophy of 1-0. Yes, it’s a cliche. One day at a time, one...
Drew Allar’s NFL future comes into focus after Penn State’s CFP win over Boise State
Before the ball dropped and the East Coast rang in 2025, football fans across the country were glued to what was happening at the Fiesta Bowl. More specifically, neutrals saw what Penn State supporters have witnessed all year: the highs and lows of Drew Allar. They saw the elite arm...
No. 5 Penn State bottles up Jeanty, beats No. 8 Boise State in Fiesta Bowl
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Penn State defenders clogged every hole, stretched out every outside run, closed with ferocity. Everywhere that Ashton Jeanty turned, he ran into Nittany Lions. The Heisman Trophy runner-up still went over 100 yards, but he sure had to work for it. Drew Allar threw three touchdown passes...
2024 in Pittsburgh college sports: Newsworthy year for teams at Pitt, Duquesne, Penn State
The steady rebuild of men’s basketball, a seven-game winning streak to start the football season and a fourth consecutive Final Four appearance by women’s volleyball make 2024 sound like a nice year for Pitt athletics. Yet none of those events come close to challenging for the biggest story of the...
Penn State looks for another breakthrough in CFP quarterfinals against Boise StateVideo
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Boise State has taken that long-awaited next step, earning a spot in the College Football Playoff for the first time, 17 years after a program-shifting win. Awaiting the No. 8 Broncos in the desert is another team that made a breakthrough. No. 5 Penn State also is...
