Penn State-Nevada Takeaways: Dennis-Sutton roars, transfers flash, more

By Greg Pickel

Penn State football is off and running in its pursuit of a College Football Playoff title. The Nittany Lions beat up Nevada46-11 on Saturday here at Beaver Stadium. Numerous Nittany Lions found the end zone while the defense shined as expected. Our top takeaways from the game are below.

Dani Dennis-Sutton had a day

Maybe Dani Dennis-Sutton felt a little disrespect after not ending up on many preseason All-American teams. Or maybe he was just ready to hit someone besides his own teammates. Either way, the senior defensive end came to play. He terrorized the Wolf Pack blockers all day long, finishing with two forced fumbles, five tackles, a sack, quarterback hurry, and pass breakup all before the third quarter was over. Nevada had no answer for his size and speed. It was a dazzling display by the standout pass rusher.

The Penn State transfer receivers came to play

Penn State thought it upgraded its receivers room by bringing in three transfers at the position. After one game, albeit against an inferior opponent, that appears to be the case. Headlined by Kyron Hudson’s toe-tapping sideline grab in the second half, the trio combined for 14 catches for 167 yards. Hudson scored a touchdown, while Trebor Pena led all pass catchers in the game with seven receptions for 74 yards. Devonte Ross caught one pass for four yards, as well. It was an encouraging day for a group that was much maligned last year.

The offense does have some work to do, though

While Penn State only surrendered one sack, the Lions’ deep offensive line didn’t neccessarily have its best performance. Andy Kotelnicki’s attack averaged just 3.8 yards per rush and logged only 11 explosive plays while failing to break the century mark on the ground until the fourth quarter. There were numerous opportunities to increase the margin of victory even further, but more often than not, the home team failed to score in the visitor’s territory. Give kicker Ryan Barker credit for being perfect. However, Penn State would prefer that he doesn’t kick four field goals from inside 40 yards and two from inside 30 moving forward.

Odds and ends

—King Mack is back. He had a splendid 73-yard kick return in the second quarter. However, the Lions only mustered a field goal out of it.

–Freshman cornerback Daryus Dixson had the hit of the game. He smoked Nevada returner Ky Woods on a kickoff in the second half.

—Amare Campbell had a really nice debut for the Nittany Lions. He was flying all over the field from his linebacker spot.