At long last, Penn State returned to the win column with a 28-10 victory over Michigan State at Spartan Stadium last Saturday.
The Nittany Lions stuck with what was working, getting their best players more snaps on both sides of the ball en route to retaining the Land Grant Trophy.
Here are Penn State’s full offensive and defensive snap counts from the win, per PFF.
*Season total in parentheses
Quarterbacks
Ethan Grunkemeyer: 63 (288)
Drew Allar: 0 (349)
Jaxon Smolik: 0 (12)
Penn State had just one scholarship quarterback available against the Spartans, with Drew Allar, Jaxon Smolik and Bekkem Kritza listed as out on the pregame availability report. Wide receiver Liam Clifford once again warmed up by taking snaps and throwing passes, and he saw three snaps in the backfield but didn’t record a stat.
Wide receivers
Kyron Hudson: 35 (463)
Trebor Peña: 28 (425)
Devonte Ross: 27 (304)
Koby Howard: 26 (86)
Liam Clifford: 3 (98)
Tyseer Denmark: 1 (26)
Aaron Enterline: 0 (7)
Hudson continues to lead all Nittany Lion wide receivers in snaps this season despite seeing little to no production in the last five games (three total receptions for 37 yards). Howard continues to see an uptick in playing time, setting another career high against Michigan State, though his usage seems to be coming at the expense of Ross, whose snap count has decreased.
Running backs
Kaytron Allen: 46 (356)
Nick Singleton: 28 (315)
Cam Wallace: 0 (15)
Corey Smith: 0 (11)
Allen continued to pull away from Singleton, shattering his career high with 181 rushing yards against the Spartans and closing in on the program record for career rushing yards. Singleton lined up in the backfield on a majority of snaps but also had three plays out wide and one behind center.
Tight ends
Khalil Dinkins: 48 (413)
Luke Reynolds: 37 (361)
Andrew Rappleyea: 34 (259)
Joey Schlaffer: 0 (7)
Dinkins continued to get the lion’s share of snaps, though the team primarily utilized his skills as a blocker, running routes just six times and seeing no targets. Reynolds was the only tight end thrown to, resulting in an incompletion. Though none of them graded highly, Rappleyea led the trio with a 60 PFF grade.
Offensive linemen
Nick Dawkins: 61 (614)
Drew Shelton: 61 (612)
Anthony Donkoh: 61 (510)
Vega Ioane: 61 (505)
Nolan Rucci: 45 (502)
TJ Shanahan Jr.: 15 (337)
Cooper Cousins: 7 (98)
Garrett Sexton: 2 (30)
Dom Rulli: 2 (30)
Eagan Boyer: 2 (6)
Owen Aliciene: 0 (22)
J’Ven Williams: 0 (2)
Chimdy Onoh: 0 (2)
Alex Birchmeier: 0 (2)
Ian Harvie: 0 (1)
The Nittany Lions rolled out the same starting five as the week prior, though Shanahan returned to action at right guard, causing Donkoh to move from right guard to right tackle and Rucci to come out of the game. Cousins continued to see limited action in six-man sets.
Defensive linemen
Dani Dennis-Sutton: 35 (477)
Zuriah Fisher: 33 (353)
Zane Durant: 28 (412)
Xavier Gilliam: 25 (316)
Jaylen Harvey: 15 (123)
Ty Blanding: 14 (118)
Yvan Kemajou: 13 (150)
Alonzo Ford Jr. 12 (256)
Enai White: 5 (39)
Liam Andrews: 3 (14)
Chaz Coleman: 0 (143)
Owen Wafle: 0 (78)
Randy Adirika: 0 (19)
Cortez Harris: 0 (13)
Bobby Mears: 0 (11)
Sam Siafa: 0 (6)
Dennis-Sutton graded second among Penn State defenders after a monster game, which included two sacks and 12 total pressures on 23 pass rushes — which doesn’t factor in his blocked punt on special teams. Once again, freshman Coleman didn’t play after interim head coach Terry Smith called him “day-to-day” earlier in the week.
Linebackers
Amare Campbell: 49 (566)
Dom DeLuca: 32 (407)
Keon Wylie: 19 (153)
Alex Tatsch: 9 (68)
Tony Rojas: 0 (176)
Anthony Speca: 0 (47)
DaKaari Nelson: 0 (2)
Cam Smith: 0 (1)
Campbell widened his lead in total snaps this season among defenders, while DeLuca split time with Wylie. Tatsch continued to see playing time but had decreased snaps from last week, when he surpassed Wylie. None of the linebackers graded among the top-10 defenders on the team, however.
Defensive backs
Zakee Wheatley: 49 (529)
Daryus Dixson: 47 (178)
King Mack: 39 (368)
Audavion Collins: 39 (407)
Zion Tracy: 31 (292)
Elliot Washington II: 20 (246)
Dejuan Lane: 10 (177)
Kenny Woseley Jr.: 8 (195)
A.J. Harris: 0 (410)
Antoine Belgrave-Shorter: 0 (144)
Vaboue Toure: 0 (51)
Jahmir Joseph: 0 (48)
Kolin Dinkins: 0 (37)
Tyler Armstead: 0 (12)
Harris was listed as questionable on the pregame availability report and didn’t play despite suiting up and going through warmups, with freshman Dixson getting the nod and performing well in his first start. He finished with five tackles and a fumble recovery, good for a 70.3 PFF grade, his highest since the start of Big Ten play. Tracy slightly beat out Dennis-Sutton for the highest grade on the defense, though both were at 75.7. He was never targeted in coverage and finished with three tackles, a sack and a forced fumble.
