Penn State’s 2025 season has been a wild ride that started with lofty expectations and turned out to be a massive disappointment.
We again present our annual awards, recognizing the highs and lows of the Nittany Lions’ 6-6 regular season as they await a Pinstripe Bowl meeting with Clemson Saturday at noon at Yankee Stadium.
Offensive player of the year: Running back Kaytron Allen posted his second straight 1,000-yard season, rushing for 1,303 yards and 15 touchdowns and becoming the school’s all-time leading rusher.
Penn State linebacker Amare Campbell ends the regular season with a team-high 96 tackles. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Defensive player of the year: Linebacker Amare Campbell was the most consistent player on defense, making a team-high 96 tackles with 9.5 tackles for loss, three sacks and a fumble recovery and 61-yard return for a touchdown.
Rookie of the year: Quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer replaced the injured Drew Allar in midseason and completed 69.4% of his passes for 1,079 yards and six touchdowns with four interceptions. Grunkemeyer, who played in one game last season as a true freshman, made progress in each of the last six games.
Unsung hero of the year: Gabe Nwosu averaged 46.1 yards per punt and helped Penn State rank first in the Big Ten and 13th nationally in net punting. Nwosu would be ranked 13th in the NCAA statistics, but he didn’t meet the minimum number of punts to qualify.
Special-teams player of the year: Ryan Barker made 15-of-16 field goal tries, his only miss a blocked kick, and 43-of-44 extra points. Barker has made 30-of-34 field goal attempts in his career, giving him the highest career percentage in school history.
Play of the year: After leading a comeback in the fourth quarter with two touchdown passes, Allar threw a pass to Luke Reynolds that Dillon Thieneman intercepted to give Oregon a double–overtime win at Beaver Stadium. Penn State was never the same again.
Best game: Indiana 27, Penn State 24. The Lions fell behind 20-7 early in the third quarter before taking a 24-20 lead on Nick Singleton’s 19-yard catch and run with less than seven minutes left. They had a chance to run out the clock but punted back to the Hoosiers. Fernando Mendoza then cemented his Heisman Trophy candidacy by directing an 80-yard drive and finishing it with a 7-yard TD pass to Omar Cooper Jr. with 36 seconds to go. It was unbeaten Indiana’s biggest scare of the regular season.
Worst game: UCLA 42, Penn State 37. The Bruins appeared to be in disarray, entering the game winless after making wholesale changes on their coaching staff. Yet they went up and down the field and built a 20-point halftime lead against the Lions, who were favored by more than three touchdowns. Penn State had a chance to win, but Reynolds dropped a pass in the end zone and Allar was stopped on a fake jet sweep on fourth down.
Surprise of the year: Grunkemeyer made his first start in a night game at Iowa after Allar’s season-ending ankle injury and commanded the huddle. He made progress each game the rest of the season and contributed largely to Penn State’s three-game winning streak.
Disappointment of the year: The play of the defense under heralded coordinator Jim Knowles was a chief reason why the season unraveled. The Lions had a lead in the fourth quarter or overtime against Oregon, Northwestern, Iowa and Indiana and couldn’t hold it in any of those games. They also allowed 42 points, 269 rushing yards and 435 total yards against UCLA, which ranks 123rd in scoring, 85th in rushing and 117th in total offense.
Forgotten man: A preseason All-American, Singleton never touched the football more than 15 times on offense in nine Big Ten games. Much of that had to do with his early struggles and Allen’s emergence as the lead back in the second half of the season. Singleton played well in limited action against Ohio State and was Penn State’s best offensive player against Indiana. He finished his career as the Lions’ leader in overall touchdowns and rushing TDs and as the fourth-leading rusher in school history.
Best individual performance (offense): Allen carried 22 times for 226 yards and one TD and caught two passes for 12 yards in a 40-36 win over Rutgers in the regular season finale.
Best individual performance (defense): Campbell made 14 tackles, split a sack, recovered a fumble and returned it 61 yards for the game-winning touchdown at Rutgers.
Best call: Penn State trailed 17-10 and had a first down at the Oregon 7 late in regulation when offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki sent Singleton in motion to the right, drawing several defenders. After the snap, Devonte Ross sprinted to the left, took a short toss from Allar and followed blocks by Khalil Dinkins and Kyron Hudson into the end zone with 30 seconds left.
Worst call: James Franklin’s decision not to try a two-point conversion after Ross’ TD and possibly win the game, especially after Penn State’s offense was sluggish for three quarters.
Best moment, part I: Allen broke the Penn State career rushing record with a 3-yard run early in the fourth quarter of a 37-10 victory over Nebraska. When he came off the field after scoring a TD to end the drive, Singleton was the first person on the sideline to congratulate him and embrace him.
Best moment, part II: Singleton broke Saquon Barkley’s career Penn State records for overall touchdowns and rushing touchdowns with an 11-yard run in the first quarter at Rutgers. He later topped Barkley’s career record for all-purpose yards with a 14-yard reception.
Worst moment, part I: Allar suffered an ankle injury late in the fourth quarter of a 22-21 loss to Northwestern that ended his college career and heard some fans derisively cheer his injury.
Worst moment, part II: Franklin was fired by director of athletics Pat Kraft the day after the loss to Northwestern in the middle of his 12th season. The decision came nine months after the Lions lost to Notre Dame 27-24 in the Orange Bowl, a CFP semifinal, and on the heels of a three-year stretch in which they went 34-8.
Worst moment, part III: Several players met with Kraft the week of the regular season finale at Rutgers to express their support for interim head coach Terry Smith to be the permanent coach. Audio from the meeting was leaked and went viral. Kraft could be heard taking shots at Michigan, Oregon, Indiana, Rutgers and even Iowa quarterback Mark Gronowski and dropping several expletives. He apologized for those remarks at the press conference where he introduced Matt Campbell as the new head coach.
Good Guy Award (for cooperation with the media): Nick Dawkins is an easy choice because he always offered thoughtful answers and showed a terrific sense of humor at times.
Quote of the year (player): “We just weren’t ready to play, I guess. I don’t have an answer exactly why we lost. Obviously, as a unit on defense, it was a terrible start. We let them score. It was just a bad day for our defense.” – Defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton after a 42-37 loss to UCLA.
Quote of the year (coach): “We shouldn’t lose that game. That’s 100% on me and we gotta get it fixed. I will get it fixed.” – James Franklin following a 22-21 loss to Northwestern in what turned out to be his final game at Penn State.
Quote of the year (director of athletics): “Probably be a Netflix documentary at some point. The way that Matt (Campbell) and I got to each other was through some twists and turns in the road.” – Pat Kraft on how he wound up with the former Iowa State coach after a 55-day coaching search.
