Tag: Dominic Deluca

Report: Penn State places Dominic DeLuca on scholarship

Penn State reserve linebacker and special teams leader reportedly placed on scholarship.

One of the stars of last year’s Blue-White Game has finally been placed on scholarship. According to a report from Lions247, linebacker [autotag]Dominic DeLuca[/autotag] was placed on scholarship at the end of the season. Whether that was before or after the Rose Bowl is unconfirmed, but regardless, it seems well deserved given DeLuca’s work ethic exhibited in the program the past couple of seasons.

DeLuca joined the Penn State program in the Class of 2021, and almost immediately he was regarded as one of the hardest-working players on the roster. DeLuca was the breakout star of the Blue-White Game in 2022 with a pair of interceptions, following a 2021 season where he had been a standout player on Penn State’s developmental squad with three developmental squad defensive player of the week honors from the coaching staff.

DeLuca went on to be named the program’s outstanding run-on player in 2022 after finding a role as a reserve linebacker and on special teams.

DeLuca got in the box score of Penn State’s Rose Bowl victory over Utah with a pair of tackles.

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2022 Penn State football: Nittany Lions’ linebacker preview

Penn State position overview: Linebacker roster overview for 2022

Penn State is prepping for a season in which the program hopes to redeem itself on the national stage. After back-to-back seasons of mediocre results, Penn State is aiming to bounce back and prove themselves worthy of being in the Big Ten championship hunt, if not a little bit more.

Penn State kicks off the 2022 season with a Thursday night primetime matchup at Purdue on September 1. When that season begins, the Nittany Lions will begin to answer whether or not the linebacker depth is truly a concern for the upcoming year. After losing a pair of starters from last year’s team, Penn State has some big spots to fill at the program’s signature position.

Here is a look at what Penn State has on the roster at the linebacker position going into the 2022 season.

Penn State football snapshot profile: No. 34 Dominic DeLuca

Penn State’s Blue-White Game star, Dominic DeLuca, hopes to continue developing in 2022. Snapshot profile…

Going into the 2022 football season, Nittany Lions Wire will be looking at each scholarship player listed on the Penn State roster.

Over the preseason, each profile will cover where the player is from, how recruiting websites rated them coming out of high school, and what role they will play for [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] this season.

Penn State faces some questions at the linebacker position in 2022 after losing a pair of starters to the NFL. He may not factor into the starting lineup, but [autotag]Dominic DeLuca[/autotag] turned in a performance worthy of being a new fan favorite to root for in the Blue-White Game in the spring. Here is a snapshot profile of the star of the spring and where he fits into the 2022 defense.

Blue-White Game Report Card: Grading Penn State’s spring football game

The grades are in for Penn State’s performance in the Blue-White Game.

Penn State’s spring game wasn’t exactly lighting up the scoreboard, even in a modified scoring system. And fans wanting to see drastic improvement from the program that has gone .500 over the past two seasons may be left wondering if Penn State is set up for another mediocre season in Happy Valley after watching the Blue-White Game. But Penn State’s final spring practice of the year had some positive developments and some reminders that help is on the way over the summer.

And now the grades are in for Penn State’s performance during the Blue-White Game. Here’s how each position group was graded for the spring game in Beaver Stadium on Saturday.

Quarterback: C

Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports

A recurring theme when it comes to the offensive grades following Penn State’s game is probably chalked up to a simple “Eh, it could have been better.” That was the basic takeaway from the performance of the quarterbacks overall, but any expectation of any passer just lighting up the spring game may have been unreasonable.

We were never likely to see a whole lot out of [autotag]Sean Clifford[/autotag], the sixth-year senior who really has little more to prove at this point. We know pretty much exactly what Clifford is, and if given time to process the field, he can make plays. But he had some overthrown passes at times. He did, however, throw the game’s only touchdown of the game.

The backup competition behind Clifford is the real storyline here, and the future of [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] is what fans are eager to witness. But a rough spring debut for the true freshman shows there is still work to be done in the big picture. If based solely on one afternoon, [autotag]Christian Veilleux[/autotag] proved he should be the team’s primary backup option heading into the season, although Allar should improve quickly.

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Next: Grading the running backs

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Inside the Box Score: The key stats from Penn State’s Blue-White Game

Inside the box score with some key stats from Penn State’s Blue-White Game.

Penn State’s Blue-White Game showed the Nittany Lions are still a bit of a work in progress in some key areas, but there were still some players and developments worth being optimistic about moving into the summer. And the final box score from a spring scrimmage like Penn State’s can oftentimes be misleading or unnecessarily overanalyzed. Nonetheless, it is a starting point for evaluating just where the Nittany Lions are heading once the 2022 season begins.

So, with the caution of not wanting to get too carried away with the official stats shared by Penn State from the Blue-White Game on Saturday afternoon, let’s dive headfirst into the key stats from the final spring practice of the season before Penn State moves to the next stage of its offseason.

And why not start with the quarterback position?

Quarterbacks

Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports
  • [autotag]Christian Veilleux[/autotag]: 5-of-14, 75 yards
  • [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag]: 6-of-14, 61 yards, 2 interceptions, 1 sack
  • [autotag]Sean Clifford[/autotag]: 4-of-7, 41 yards, 1 touchdown
  • [autotag]Beau Pribula[/autotag]: 2-of-3, 7 yards, 2 sacks

Sean Clifford had some decent production in his time on the field, including the game’s only touchdown pass (to transfer addition Mitchell Tinsley. Clifford also had the best performance from passers in seven-on-seven drills, for whatever that is worth.

Christian Veilleux had the most complete performance among those vying for backup consideration to Clifford. This could have been expected given he already has some in-game experience from last season.

Don’t get too down when reviewing the stat line for five-star quarterback Drew Allar, because he was not given much help at times by his receivers dropping passes or having a ball bounce off their hands. But he did have a number of throws that seemed to be just a tad behind his intended targets. And Beau Pribula also had some freshman moments, which was to be expected.

NEXT: Who were the top running backs in the Blue-White Game?

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5 takeaways from Penn State’s Blue-White spring game

5 takeaways form Penn State’s Blue-White Gme

Penn State head coach [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] admitted the 2022 Blue-White Game may not have been the best way to entertain fans and answer questions for the media, but he seemed to be pleased with the development of his team as the spring practices came to a close. Saturday’s Blue-White Game allowed plenty of players on the roster to get some opportunities to shine and, more importantly, just get some playing time in a scrimmage format.

With a roster with some key freshmen just joining the program, the expectations are high. But for a team coming off a pair of mediocre seasons, Penn State’s Blue-White Game may have felt a tad underwhelming for some fans watching.

But there are some takeaways you can have from what was largely a glorified scrimmage with a modified scoring system. Here are five that stood out to me.

Instant Reaction: Blue-White Game shows Penn State is a work in progress (and that’s OK)

Penn State Blue-White Game instant reaction: Some highlights, some solid performances, and some work to do

If you were expecting to see great changes in Penn State in the spring game on Saturday afternoon, you probably had your hopes up a bit too much. The defense got the last laugh with a 17-13 victory over the offense after the action came down to one final play to determine the winning side.

[autotag]Sean Clifford[/autotag] played a little bit more than may have been expected but he showed good ability to make some plays, especially in the seven-on-seven drills sprinkled throughout the afternoon. But Clifford didn’t have much to prove. Instead, the backup options were the real show as [autotag]Christian Veilleux[/autotag] had a solid afternoon and freshman [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] had a few moments that reminded you he is just a freshman getting his first taste of college football. But after shaking off a few rusty moments early on, Allar provided a brief glimpse of what’s to come in his future.

The same could be said about the performance of freshman defensive lineman [autotag]Zane Durant[/autotag] and running back [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag], although neither had a monster performance that made you think Penn State will be a juggernaut right away this fall.

Instead, the star of the spring game may have been [autotag]Dominic DeLuca[/autotag], the redshirt freshman linebacker who notched a pair of interceptions and a sack. It may not be enough to throw him into the starting mix for the linebackers in the fall, but it was certainly enjoyable to watch as a player that was flying well under the radar for most.

Overall, spring game reactions can tend to be either wildly exaggerated or extremely reserved. The Penn State spring game will likely lead to more timid reactions moving forward for the majority of fans, and that’s perfectly acceptable. There were not any glaring problem areas for Penn State, and it would be unfair to be too critical of the running game in this setup even with much attention placed on it this entire offseason.

The game did offer some worthy highlights, including a nice catch in the end zone by Trey Harrison and solid play in seven-on-seven drills by Clifford and Veilleux.

Penn State’s spring practices have now come to a close, and all eyes are on what’s next for the program. Penn State still has a good amount of work to do later this summer, and the addition of some more key players to the roster will only help the cause.

Penn State’s 2022 season begins Thursday, Sept. 1 at Purdue.

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28 days until Penn State football 2021 season opener

There are now just 28 days until Penn State football returns!

We are 28 days away from Penn State football! That’s just FOUR weeks from today!

Like yesterday’s countdown, there are currently two players that wear the number 28. The first one is a running back out of Stafford, Virginia named Devyn Ford.

As a recruit, Ford was a four-star that committed to Penn State in the class of 2019. He joins a deep running back room lead by Noah Cain. Many people viewed Ford as having a high football IQ. He was a well-known name coming out of high school.

Last season, Ford started in five of his six games he played. The Nittany Lions have a talented running back room who also added Baylor transfer John Lovett this offseason.

The other player who reps the number 28 is a freshman linebacker out of West Pittston, Pennsylvania named Dominic DeLuca.

As a recruit, DeLuca wasn’t a highly touted player. Penn State was his biggest offer. He committed to play at State College in the class of 2020.

DeLuca played safety in high school, but was recruited as a linebacker. He certainly has the size to maybe take on a hybrid role later in his collegiate career.

There have been a number of defensive prospects that have left their legacy at Beaver Stadium. Ford and DeLuca are two of the many underclassmen who hope to carve out their legacy in 28 days at Camp Randall Stadium.

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Penn State jersey numbers for new football players

Penn State has updated the jersey numbers for freshmen football players and some new transfer players

While some programs may play some offseason gimmicks of forcing players to earn their jersey number or a helmet decal, Penn State doesn’t mess around with such uniform motivations. And on Friday, Penn State confirmed the jersey numbers to be worn by every incoming freshman or transfer player being added to the roster this fall.

Penn State has already given some new players an official jersey number, including those who enrolled early and participated in spring football. But a couple of new additions to the program this summer now have their official jersey numbers as well.

Here’s a look at the official jersey numbers for a number of the newest Nittany Lions;

  • No. 4 – CB Kalen King
  • No. 6 – CB Zakee Wheatley
  • No. 7 – S Jaylen Reed
  • No. 9 – QB  Christian Veilleux
  • No. 14 – CB A.J. Lytton
  • No. 17 – TE Khalil Dinkins
  • No. 18 – DE Davon Townley Jr.
  • No. 24 – CB Jeffrey Davis Jr.
  • No. 28 – LB Dominic Deluca
  • No. 41 – LB Kobe King
  • No. 42 – LB Jamari Buddin
  • No. 52 – DT Jordan Van Den Berg
  • No. 58 – OL Landon Tengwall
  • No. 68 – OL Eric Wilson
  • No. 82 – WR Liam Clifford
  • No. 85 – WR Harrison Wallace III
  • No. 90 – DE Rodney McGraw
  • No. 94 – K Sander Sahaydak

Penn State will begin preseason camp on August 6. Penn State’s season opener will be played on September 4 at Wisconsin. The game will be FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff.

Helmet sticker to Lions 247.

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