PISCATAWAY, N.J. — After an uneven year in Happy Valley, Penn State is going bowling.

The Nittany Lions defeated Rutgers, 40-36, in a wild shootout to secure their sixth win and earn a bid to a postseason game. They also eliminated Rutgers from bowl contention by handing the Scarlet Knights their seventh loss.

Star junior linebacker Amare Campbell scored the first touchdown of his collegiate career in a big way, scooping up an Athan Kaliakmanis fumble with 7.5 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter for a 61-yard score. Kaliakmanis — excellent for most of the day — saw heavy pressure from Dani Dennis-Sutton and mind-bogglingly dropped the football as he looked to throw.

Dennis-Sutton then secured a sack on Rutgers’ ensuing drive and shot into the backfield on a fourth-down stop, allowing Zion Tracy and Campbell to combine for the tackle on a Kaliakmanis keeper.

Penn State then ran the clock out with a nine-play, 64-yard drive.

Huge days from Kaytron Allen, Nick Singleton and Ethan Grunkemeyer buoyed the Penn State defense before it finally settled in during the fourth quarter.

Penn State and Rutgers combined for a jaw-dropping 1,042 yards of offense on the afternoon, while the Nittany Lions extended their winning streak over the Scarlet Knights to 18 games.

Here’s what stood out from the 2025 regular-season finale.

Singleton gets his moment; Allen stars again

Allen was the big story last week as he broke Evan Royster’s record for career rushing yards in Penn State program history, but Singleton got his shine Saturday.

Singleton broke Saquon Barkley’s records for career rushing touchdowns, career all-purpose touchdowns (including receiving and special teams) and career all-purpose yards. He walked into the end zone on an 11-yard score in the first quarter to make his mark on the record books. He later scored another touchdown in the third quarter.

Singleton had another big-time performance in his final career regular-season game, carrying nine times for 86 yards and adding two receptions for 23 yards.

Allen, meanwhile, went for a career-high 226 rushing yards and a score, his fifth game over the century mark this season. He had three separate runs of at least 43 yards.

The Lions rushing attack was unstoppable all afternoon.

Allen and Singleton have been a rarity in modern college football over their sensational four-year careers. They’ve shared the spotlight when either one could have easily transferred away to be a bell cow, and now in their senior years, they’ve each been rewarded with Nittany Lions history.

Rutgers shreds the Lion defense

Game-winning plays aside, the Penn State defense nearly cost the Lions their bowl eligibility.

Coordinator Jim Knowles had his unit humming for most of the Indiana game and for all of the Michigan State and Nebraska wins. The players seemed to communicate better in a slightly simplified scheme, and they’d played noticeably faster on each snap.

All of that went out the window against Rutgers.

Quarterback Kaliakmanis (338 yards, four total touchdowns) took advantage of a ton of missed assignments, receiver KJ Duff (127 yards and one touchdown) took advantage of seemingly every man-to-man matchup and running back Antwan Raymond (251 total yards, two touchdowns) ran wild.

For example, Raymond scored a fourth-quarter touchdown on a deep wheel route out of the backfield, one where nobody picked him up in coverage.

Knowles couldn’t find any answers, and the Penn State players looked sluggish by the fourth quarter. If Kaliakmanis hadn’t somehow dropped the ball late in the fourth quarter, we may be talking about a much different game.

Grunkemeyer sharp again

The redshirt freshman quarterback continues to make an argument to be a starter in 2026, whether that’s at Penn State or somewhere else.

He was incredibly efficient for the second straight week, simply complementing the dominant efforts of Singleton and Allen.

Grunkemeyer completed 17 of 21 passes for 209 yards and one touchdown. That followed an 11-for-12, 181-yard and one-touchdown effort against Nebraska last week.

His most impressive effort came just before halftime. Penn State had just 27 seconds to match a Rutgers touchdown, and Grunkemeyer completed passes of 6, 19 and 23 yards in just 24 seconds to set up a Ryan Barker made field goal. It was a calm and efficient two-minute drive to take a 24-21 lead at the time.

He also hasn’t thrown an interception since the Indiana loss Nov. 8.

Grunkemeyer is in clear control of this unit as he continues to push the ball down the field. His leadership is worth noting, too, as he ran down the sideline to fire up teammates just before the Penn State defense scored its game-clinching touchdown.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)