Sunday Column: Lions Get More Than A Passing Grade In Romp Over Clawless Wolfpack

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If you’re one of college football’s big dogs, you can go with one of two options for the season opener: Battle another big dog or bat around a puppy for a few hours.

Shortly after Ohio State took down Texas in a certified big dog matchup on Saturday, Penn State hosted the Nevada Wolfpack in a game that might have been interesting had it been the real-life version of the mascots squaring off but held essentially no drama from a football standpoint.

Would a Week 1 Big Dog scalp have helped the Nittany Lions more than the 46-11 win over a team that will probably finish at or near the bottom of the Mountain West Conference? Of course, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t take just about full advantage of the opportunity presented to them.

See, Week 1 can be fun, or boring, or even disastrous, but it is almost never sharp, whether you’re a team with natty expectations or a team that flies across the country to get a whipping and a seven-figure paycheck. The officials weren’t exactly on point, if you believe any crew is capable of being on point. Brad Nessler, who has been calling games before most of us were alive, didn’t figure out it was King Mack and not Khalil Dinkins returning the kickoff until Mack had caught his breath.

Penn State’s offense stalled out in the red zone on four occasions, settling for field goals against a defense that was all but powerless to stop it. The Lion defense allowed a mildly concerning 44 yards and three first downs on the game’s opening possession before forcing one of three turnovers and shutting things down until a backdoor cover special against the backups in the final minute. As is often the case in the first game of the year, it was seven to 10 guys doing their job and a couple of them being just a step late or confused for a half second, the sort of stuff that can have a major effect when the margins are razor-thin in one of those big dog matchups the Lions will have later in the season but rarely amount to much against the puppies.

For the most part, though, the Nittany Lions did what they had to do or even a little more, and the upgrade at a certain position was a big part of that.

Penn State wide receivers caught 16 passes for 183 yards and one touchdown. Trebor Pena, who had seven grabs for 74 yards, had a fluidity to his game not seen since Jahan Dotson. Kyron Hudson (6-89-1) showed off size and hands and a great sense of timing with his quarterback. Drew Allar (a tidy 22-of-26) was not only on the same page but usually the same paragraph as his wideouts, which was almost never the case in 2024. The route-running was as impressive as the chemistry, and mere competency from that group will unlock Andy Kotelnicki’s offense in a way that not even the spiciest Tyler Warren play package could. And, probably because they simply didn’t have to, the Lions didn’t get super spicy or tricky with the offensive playbook on Saturday, with Allar working the short and intermediate passing games, occasionally finding his backs, and pulling the ball for an occasional run. The run game was more efficient than dominant (3.6 yards per carry), but Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen are going to be a headache for every defense they see this season, moreso if Allar and the receivers are able to move the chains and keep the safeties out of the box.

The rest of the pieces, as we basically guessed, seem to be there: a disciplined, athletic defense led by two freaks of nature in Dani Dennis-Sutton (who looked like a cross between Abdul Carter and, well, himself against Nevada) and Zane Durant, solid specialists (and perhaps a game-breaking returner in prodigal son Mack), tight ends who won’t be Warren—and won’t have to be—but could still be as dynamic as anyone in the conference, and a bunch of talented and hungry backups who will likely get plenty of second-half reps against a puppy-heavy September schedule. Add it all up and all but a couple of games should be mere dress rehearsals for the big-dog dates against Oregon and Ohio State.

Now, would those wideouts have been a difference-maker in Week 1 against a Texas or an Ohio State? Hard to say. But the cringe-inducing performance by Longhorn wunderkind Arch Manning against the Buckeyes was the latest in a long line of reminders that football is not a game played on paper and that even five stars aren’t always five stars right away—if at all. The big-dog matchups can be fun for the fans but coaches would almost always prefer to take the 40-point dub and a chance to iron out the inevitable mistakes in the film room and the practice field the following week. The Nittany Lions looked the part of a contender on Saturday, but they’ll have some time to round into their best form before the games that really matter.