STATE COLLEGE – Kyron Hudson and Trebor Pena raved Saturday about the atmosphere for their first game at Beaver Stadium, both describing it as special.
“I’ve never been in a stadium with that many people,” Pena said. “It was special. It was exciting. It was different.”
So was the Penn State offense with the new wide receivers.
Hudson, Pena and Ross combined to make 14 catches for 167 yards and one touchdown in the Nittany Lions’ 46-11 blowout win over Nevada before 106,915 fans.
Pena, the former Syracuse receiver, had seven receptions for 74 yards, Hudson (USC) had six for 89 yards and a touchdown and Ross (Troy) had one for 4 yards on fourth down.
Coach James Franklin brought them to Penn State to improve a position that struggled the last two seasons.
“My gut says they had a good game,” Franklin said. “Hudson looks very mature. He looks very poised. He almost came down with that ball that was left behind him in the end zone (in the first quarter). He looks mature, strong and confident.
“Pena did some really good things. We’ll continue to get Ross involved as well.”
With those three, Drew Allar completed 22-of-26 passes for 217 yards in a strong performance.
“With Treb and Hud, they had a really good game,” Allar said. “I was really excited by what they did. Our receivers are going to make a lot of plays for us.”
If Penn State can improve the passing game and be consistently productive through the air, it can keep defenses from focusing on stopping running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen.
“They played a heck of a game,” Singleton said about Hudson and Pena. “Teams are going to have to respect our passing. It moves everybody out of the box and gives me, Kaytron and whoever’s in the game a chance to hit big runs.”
Hudson offered a warning to future Penn State opponents.
“It’s only going to get better,” he said. “It’s a strong brotherhood. It’s a strong culture. It’s something special.”
Strong kicking game: Penn State’s special teams were productive as Ryan Barker made 4-of-4 field goals and King Mack had a 73-yard kickoff return.
Barker, a Kennett High School product, was successful on tries from 29, 28, 32 and 39 yards. He’s now 19-for-22 in his college career. He also was 3-for-3 on extra points.
“The field goals were huge,” Franklin said.
Mack began his career at Penn State in 2023, transferred to Alabama last year and returned to the Lions this year.
“It’s really cool for King Mack,” Franklin said. “He made a huge play for us. The kicking game was overall good. I would have liked to see us cover kicks a little bit better. That could be improved.”
He also didn’t like the execution on a failed 2-point conversion try in the third quarter.
“That was probably the only thing in the game that was disgusting,” Franklin said.
Singleton moves up: Former Gov. Mifflin star Nick Singleton rushed for a pair of 1-yard touchdowns and moved into some pretty heady company.
Singleton now has 34 rushing touchdowns in his career, tying him with Ki-Jana Carter for fourth place in Penn State history behind Saquon Barkley (43), Lydell Mitchell (38) and Curtis Enis (36).
He passed Mitchell for second place in overall career touchdowns and now has 43, trailing only Barkley (53).
“It’s a blessing, for sure,” Singleton said. “The main goal is to win a national championship. We’re one step closer. …Yeah, I know it’s crazy. I don’t really think about it, but it’s crazy.”
Franklin angry: Franklin confronted the Big Ten officiating crew on the field after the game, complaining that they didn’t reset the play clock for the Penn State offensive reserves.
They also flagged the Lions for a delay of game penalty.
“I was not happy with the last penalty,” Franklin said. “The official is in the huddle holding us, turns to the umpire and says, ‘Pump the clock.’ He doesn’t do it. And then throws a flag on us.
“I go and address it and the same guy’s behind him going, ‘I tried to tell him.’ So I wasn’t happy about that.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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