Tag: Dani Dennis-Sutton

Penn State vs. Purdue injury report: Latest updates, news for Week 12

All the latest updates and news on Penn State’s injury report ahead of a Week 12 game vs. Purdue.

After a big primetime victory in front of a whiteout crowd last weekend, Penn State looks to keep the good vibes rolling this week on the road against Purdue, a team with just one win all season. It would seem this would be a good week for the Nittany Lions to take a foot slightly off the gas pedal and rest some key players, but the Nittany Lions are caught in a position where it needs to continue racking up some style points to secure a potential first-round home game in the College Football Playoff while not risking any serious injuries to key players.

Penn State has some key players that have been banged up this season and in recent weeks, so it will be interesting to see how the team approached this afternoon’s Big Ten contest in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Big Ten teams are required to provide an updated player availability report two hours prior to kickoff. The information below will be updated once those reports go live from the Big Ten office.

Penn State injury report

OUT

  • Kevin Winston Jr.
  • Kaden Saunders
  • Cam Wallace
  • Keon Wylie
  • Zuriah Fisher
  • Andrew Rappleyea

Purdue injury report

OUT

  • Botros Alisandro
  • Damarjhe Lewis

QUESTIONABLE

  • Jamarius Dinkins
  • Mo Omonode

Nicholas Singleton injury update

Penn State star running back [autotag]Nicholas Singleton[/autotag] was taken out of last week’s game in the third quarter and he did not return to action. Singleton suffered what head coach [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] termed a short-term injury, and it is expected Singleton will be available and play Saturday against Purdue. The nature of the injury was undisclosed and Penn State went on to win last week’s game 35-6, so there may have been less of a push to get Singleton back in the game anyway. And even this week, if Singleton is available to go, it would not be shocking if Penn State lightens his workload a bit in a game the Nittany Lions should win handily.

Dani Dennis-Sutton injury update

[autotag]Dani Dennis-Sutton[/autotag] left the Wisconsin game three weeks ago with an injury and has been slowly working his way back to full strength. Dennis-Sutton played just five snaps two weeks ago against Ohio State and doubled that to 10 snaps last week against Washignton after being listed as questionable.

Coziah Izzard injury update

[autotag]Coziah Izzard[/autotag] was banged up two weeks ago against Ohio State and was listed as questionable for last week’s game against Washington. Izzard did not play in the game.

Penn State faces Purdue at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+. The Nittany Lions are a four-touchdown favorite.

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Penn State vs. Ohio State injury report: Latest updates, news for Week 10

All the latest updates and news on Penn State’s injury report ahead of a Week 10 game vs. Ohio State.

Penn State hosts Ohio State in one of the games of the year in the Big Ten. But the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes each are coming into the week with some notable injury concerns after last week. Penn State lost key players in the first half of last week’s win at Wisconsin when quarterback [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] and defensive end [autotag]Dani Dennis-Sutton[/autotag] each left in the second half of the game. Ohio State is battling some offensive line concerns after getting a little banged up last week in a win against Nebraska.

Penn State and Ohio State kick off today’s game at noon Eastern on Fox. Penn State is a slight underdog at home and does not have history on its side in this series. If Penn State is going to pick up a win, then it will need to be as close to full strength as possible.

Here is a look at the player availability reports for both teams for today’s big game in Happy Valley. (Player availability reports are released two hours prior to kickoff, so this post will be updated accordingly once that information is available).

Penn State player availability report

QUESTIONABLE

  • Dani Dennis-Sutton
  • [autotag]Anthony Donkoh[/autotag]

OUT

  • [autotag]Kevin Winston Jr.[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Kaden Saunders[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Quinton Martin Jr.[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Cam Wallace[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Keon Wylie[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Zuriah Fisher[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Andrew Rappleyea[/autotag]

Ohio State player availability report

OUT

  • TC Caffey (season)
  • Josh Simmons (season)
  • Zen Michalski
  • Reis Stocksdales
  • Will Kacmarek

Drew Allar injury update

Penn State quarterback Drew Allar left last week’s game at Wisconsin at the end of the first half with an apparent knee injury. After warming up for the second half, Allar did not play after halftime, giving way to backup quarterback Beau Pribula. Allar was seen practicing with the team this week and is expected to play and start for the Nittany Lions on Saturday.

Dani Dennis-Sutton injury update

Penn State defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton left last week’s game early in the second half with a reported groin injury. Dennis-Sutotn was taken out of the game late in the first half and did try playing at the start of the second half, but he was removed quickly in the second half as a caution. Head coach James Franklin said this week he would be a game-time decision.

Dani Dennis-Sutton leaves game vs. Wisconsin with injury

Penn State DL Dani Dennis-Sutton left the Wisconsin game with an injury. Here are the latest updates.

Penn State is hoping to win a road game at Wisconsin on Saturday night, but the other big goal is to stay healthy. The defense could be in some danger of that as the first half came to a close in Madison.

Defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton was helped off the field late in the first half as Wisconsin was driving with the football for an eventual go-ahead touchdown. Dennis-Sutton appeared to suffer some lower-body injury with attention being placed on his right leg or groin by trainers.

Dani Dennis-Sutton injury update

All that is known at this time is Dennis-Sutton was taken out of the game with an apparent lower body injury. He was taken to the medical tent on the Penn State sideline late in the first half. His status for the second half is unknown.

UPDATE 9:48 PM: Dani Dennis-Sutton did return to the game to start the second half, although he did make a quick trip back to the sideline to be attended to by a trainer.

UPDATE: 9:50 PM: Dani Dennis-Sutton is officially out for the remainder of the game, as reported by an NBC sideline report during the broadcast of the game.

How long will Dani Dennis-Sutton be out?

There is no update on the status of Dennis-Sutton for the remainder of this game at this time. It was reported his time in the medical tent was brief.

Penn State DL depth chart

If Dani Dennis-Sutton is going to miss any playing time, then Penn State’s next man up may be Smith Vilbert. The redshirt senior has the experience edge over a couple of other options behind Dennis-Sutton on the one side of the depth chart.

Amin Vanover could be another potential veteran option, although he is typically the backup to Abdul Carter on the other side of the line. Unfortunately, Zuriah Fisher is out with an injury.

Best Penn State football photos from the Illinois game

Check out some of the best photos from Penn State’s win over Illinois.

Penn State played its first night game of the season on Saturday night, and what better setting to do so than at home in an electric Beaver Stadium? Although this was not an officially scheduled white-out game, the fans packed the stadium dressed for the occasion and later celebrated a 21-7 victory over Illinois as Penn State improved to 4-0 overall and opened Big Ten play with a win.

Penn State’s running game and defense led the way in what turned out to be a competitive defensive slugfest between two programs known for their hard-nosed defensive styles. Penn State eventually proved to have the upper hand with a stronger and more consistent running attack and the defense came up with seven sacks and a couple of turnovers to help put a cap on the first Big Ten win of the season in front of the home crowd.

Here are some of the best photos from Penn State’s primetime win over the Illini in Week 5.

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13 Penn State players appear on Senior Bowl watch list for 2024

A large number of Penn State players are on this year’s Senior Bowl watch list.

Penn State has historically been productive when it comes to manufacturing talent for the next level in the NFL, and this year’s roster is not short on potential NFL talent. One of the highlights of the draft cycle is the Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, which invites the nation’s top seniors to participate in one of the premier scouting events outside of the annual NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis. An invite to the Senior Bowl is cherished and must be earned, and is a sign of the respect the NFL draft and scouting community holds for a player. It is a great tryout in front of the NFL world and can dramatically impact a player’s draft stock.

The Senior Bowl released its watch list of players for the upcoming season, and Penn State was well represented with players that could eventually be invited to participate in the top senior all-star game leading up to the NFL draft.

The full list of Penn State players appearing on the watch list includes:

  • [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag], QB
  • [autotag]Kaytron Allen[/autotag], RB
  • [autotag]Abdul Carter[/autotag], DL
  • [autotag]Dani Dennis-Sutton[/autotag], DL
  • [autotag]Julian Fleming[/autotag], WR
  • [autotag]Kobe King[/autotag], LB
  • [autotag]JB Nelson[/autotag], OL
  • [autotag]Jaylen Reed[/autotag], DB
  • [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag], RB
  • [autotag]Tyler Warren[/autotag], TE
  • [autotag]Kevin Winston Jr.[/autotag], DB
  • [autotag]Sal Wormley[/autotag], OL
  • [autotag]Nolan Rucci[/autotag], OL

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Penn State defensive lineman feels disrespected by EA Sports College Football 25 rating

Penn State defensive lineman was not happy about his rating in the new college football video game.

College football and video game fans rejoiced this week with the long-awaited, and long-overdue, release of EA Sports College Football 25. The game is the first college football game released by EA Sports in 11 years, and the reviews are suggesting the wait was worth it. For the first time in the history of EA Sports’ line of college football video game titles, current college football games are officially in the game with their name, image, and likeness. Players did have to opt in to be included in the game in exchange for a $600 check and a free copy of the deluxe version of the game.

But now that players are officially in the game, the creators of the game have had to hand out player ratings to each player. Some players are not taking too kindly to their video game rating upon release. Among those feeling turned off by the video game ratings is Penn State defensive lineman Dani Dennis-Sutton. Dennis-Sutton was given an 85 ratings in the game, which didn’t sit well with one of Penn State’s top defensive players heading into the 2024 season.

“85 overall is so disrespectful,” Dennis-Sutton posted on his social media account.

Dennis-Sutton is the seventh highest-rated player on Penn State’s virtual roster. Defensive end Abdul Carter, who switched from linebacker to defensive end this offseason, safety Kevin Winston Jr., and running back Nick Singleton share Penn State’s top rating with a 91 overall rating. Tight end Tyler Warren is the only other player in the 90s with an overall rating of 90.

EA Sports College Football 25 is available now for Sony PlayStation 5 and Microsoft Xbox Series X and S consoles. The game is not available on PC or Nintendo Switch.

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Abdul Carter and Dani Dennis Sutton named to Lott IMPACT Trophy watch list

Penn State’s Abdul Carter and Dani Dennis-Sutton have been named to the watch list for a top defensive award in 2024.

Two of Penn State’s best defensive players have started college football’s award watch list season by appearing on the watch list for the Lott IMPACT Trophy. Defensive ends [autotag]Abdul Carter[/autotag] and [autotag]Dani Dennis-Sutton[/autotag] were included on the watch list released by the Lott IMPACT Trophy this week.

The Lott IMPACT Trophy is awarded to the nation’s top defensive player based on the award’s core principles of integrity, maturity, performance, academics, community, and tenacity. The award is named in honor of Ronnie Lott, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Carter is making a move from linebacker to defensive end this season and is expected to be a dominant force off the edge this fall. Penn State’s defensive line will feature Dennis-Sutotn on the opposite end, giving the Nittany Lions potentially one of the top defensive end combinations in the Big Ten, if not the nation. Both players have already started receiving potential first-round NFL draft pick projections for 2025.

Penn State has one all-time winner of the Lott IMPACT Trophy. Carl Nassib won the award in 2015. At the time, he was the third Big Ten player to take home the award, joining Ohio State’s James Laurinaitis (2008) and Wisconsin’s J.J. Watt (2010). Other Big Ten winners since Nassib have included Jabrill Peppers of Michigan (2016), Josey Jewell of Iowa (2017), Paddy Fisher of Northwestern (2020), and Aidan Hutchinson of Michigan (2021).

Last season’s winner of the Lott IMPACT Trophy was Michigan linebacker Junior Colson.

The Lott IMPACT Trophy match list is typically released well ahead of the rest of the individual college football award watch lists. More watch lists are scheduled to be released beginning in late July as part of the National College Football Awards Association’s calendar. The Lott IMPACT Trophy is not a part of this association.

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Continue to see the full 2024 Lott IMPACT Trophy watch list.

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Penn State creates official visit date for coveted 2025 recruit

Penn State will host a key defensive recruiting target next weekend.

It’s going to be a busy and important summer for [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] and his staff as Penn State looks to land some of their priority recruits in the class of 2025.

With many official visits already locked in, they’re hoping that they can start to lock in commitments and wrap up another solid class that keeps this program on the right foot heading into the expanded College Football Playoff era.

Originally, official visit season wasn’t scheduled to start until May 31, but that changed as one of their coveted recruits couldn’t make any of the dates work for his schedule.

So, instead of losing out on the opportunity to have an elite edge rusher visit campus, Penn State created a whole new date.

Sean Fitz of On3 reported that the Nittany Lions will host four-star [autotag]Iose Epenesa[/autotag] on May 18. It will be the first official visit for the Illinois native has he’s set to also see Missouri, Iowa, Utah and Miami (subscription required).

Epenesa is rated as the 20th-best player in the country and No. 3 at his position according to 247Sports.

He has a strong bloodline as his older brother is A.J. Epenesa who plays for the Buffalo Bills. But, that bloodline might also make this a tough one for Penn State to get home as his two brothers and father played at Iowa.

Still, it’s important to bring these types of players to campus and it’s great that Franklin and everyone involved were able to get something worked out.

Epenesa would be a great addition to the Nittany Lions as they will be looking for impact players to be the next faces of the defensive line following the NFL departures of [autotag]Chop Robinson[/autotag] and [autotag]Adisa Isaac[/autotag] in 2024 and presumably [autotag]Abdul Carter[/autotag] and [autotag]Dani Dennis-Sutton[/autotag] following this year.

Penn State could get breakout season from sophomore defensive end

Here is a potential breakout defensive player for Penn State this season.

Penn State is coming out of a season where they had two of their edge rushers get drafted by NFL teams over the weekend.

While [autotag]Chop Robinson[/autotag] and [autotag]Adisa Isaac[/autotag] will certainly be difficult to replace, their losses are lessened by the return of [autotag]Dani Dennis-Sutton[/autotag] and [autotag]Abdul Carter[/autotag] moving to defensive end.

As has become the norm for the Nittany Lions under the past few years under defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, they rotated many players across their defensive line throughout a game.

That’s likely going to continue with new defensive coordinator [autotag]Tom Allen[/autotag].

So while it’s nice to have the returning production of Dennis-Sutton and Carter taking on a new role, they’ll still need other players to produce for them to operate like they have in the past.

According to Tyler Donohue of 247Sports, he’s expecting [autotag]Jameial Lyons[/autotag] to have a breakout season this year based on what he’s hearing coming out of spring practices (subscription required).

At 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds, he certainly has the frame to be able to compete against Big Ten competition.

Lyons didn’t get much opportunity during his freshman season in 2023 because of how experienced the defensive line room was, but he still has loads of potential based on his four-star rating coming out of high school.

Donohue said that the coaching staff told him that they were confident he would have been able to handle a larger workload if it weren’t for the depth in front of him.

Instead, he was limited to 95 defensive snaps.

Lyons should have plenty of opportunities this season to showcase what he can do and [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] seems to think he’ll take that opportunity, saying that the sophomore has “got a bright future.”

He’ll certainly one to continue monitoring throughout the summer and during the early part of the year.

Abdul Carter, Dani Dennis-Sutton land in USA TODAY 2025 mock NFL draft

Will Abdul Carter be a first-round draft pick in 2025? And who else could join him?

The 2024 NFL draft saw plenty of Penn State players get their names called at the podium. A total of eight Penn State players had their NFL dreams realized by being drafted in this year’s draft, including two first-round picks with Olu Fashanu and Chop Robinson. Now, looking ahead to the 2025 NFL draft, two more Penn State players could be looking like potential first-round draft picks.

USA TODAY Sports writer Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz published his 2025 way-too-early mock draft and included two Penn State players in his first mock draft. [autotag]Abdul Carter[/autotag], who is making a move from linebacker to defensive end this season, is the first Nittany Lion on his mock draft. Carter lands at no. 22 on this mock draft, going to the Atlanta Falcons.

“Carter could follow Micah Parsons and Chop Robinson in becoming Penn State’s next explosive first-round defender,” Middlehurst-Schwartz says. “He has the chance to go considerably higher than this if his move this year from linebacker to a full-time defensive end role is fruitful, but he’s currently facing a misdemeanor assault charge in an alleged incident with a tow truck driver.”

The other Penn State player on the mock draft is defensive lineman Dani Dennis-Sutton, who just gets in at pick no. 32 to the San Francisco 49ers.

“At 6-5 and 270 pounds, Dennis-Sutton puts together an impressive set of athletic tools for highly respected 49ers defensive line coach Kris Kocurek to bring along,” Middlehurst-Schwartz says. “He also would give San Francisco someone who could be a long-term fixture opposite Nick Bosa.”

That would certainly be a heck of a duo on the defensive line for the 49ers, who already have a couple of Penn State players on the roster, including last year’s addition of safety Ji’Ayir Brown.

Of course, a lot can change from now until next year’s draft gets started. Kalen King was projected to be a likely first-round pick a year ago as well, and he slid to one of the last few picks in the 2024 draft. But, if Carter and Dennis-Sutton fulfill these expectations of being first-round picks, it looks like Penn State’s defense will be in for a pretty big year.

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