Tag: Kaden Saunders

Penn State lands transfer wide receiver Kyron Hudson from USC

Penn State added a wide receiver from another Big Ten program out of the transfer portal.

Wide receiver is something that continues to be a topic brought up for Penn State not just by the fan base, but also by national pundits who routinely point out the lack of production from that position.

Because of that, this transfer cycle was seen as a huge opportunity for [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] and his staff to add a difference maker who can play a huge part in how the Nittany Lions perform going forward.

They are set to host Florida International transfer Eric Rivers this week. He would give them a productive player on the outside who is adept at getting open, something Penn State’s current group has a hard time consistently doing.

But before he is set to arrive in Happy Valley, the Nittany Lions already struck in the portal by earning a commitment from USC transfer [autotag]Kyron Hudson[/autotag].

The 6-foot-1 pass catcher was a four-star recruit coming out of high school when he committed to the Trojans. Ranked as the 126th-best player and 22nd overall wide receiver in the 2021 class by the 247Sports Composite, he had a productive showing during his career in Los Angeles.

Hudson has totaled 807 yards and eight touchdowns on 72 catches with USC, but it was this past year where he really broke through with 38 receptions for 462 yards and three touchdowns.

Any addition to the wide receiver room is going to be a notable one, but for Penn State to add someone who has been productive at a power conference level is huge.

There are still major questions about how that position group is going to look next year with [autotag]Harrison Wallace[/autotag] and [autotag]Omari Evans[/autotag] likely returning for another season along with the injured [autotag]Kaden Saunders[/autotag], but one or even all three could decide to leave as well.

Even if all three are back, adding Hudson to the mix is huge as the Nittany Lions need more production on the perimeter going forward.

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.

5 offensive keys for Penn State against West Virginia

Five offensive keys for Penn State as they head to Morgantown for a week one rematch against the Mountaineers.

When Penn State faced off against West Virginia last season, the Nittany Lion offense had one of their best days of the season.

Drew Allar threw for 325 yards while completing 21 of his 29 pass attempts and three touchdowns. Harrison Wallace III caught a team high seven passes for 72 yards. On the ground, Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen both rushed for over 50 yards. It was a great all around offensive performance that led to a 38-15 victory.

The Mountaineers made improvements on the defensive side of the ball, but it is still a weaker unit that can be exploited by a strong offensive gameplan. The weakest position group on West Virginia’s defense is at cornerback where Penn state should try to exploit and give a much needed jolt to a receiving group that underwhelmed in 2023.

Related: 5 defensive keys for Penn State against West Virginia

Running the ball is always a staple of a PSU offense and with two elite running backs that shouldn’t change this Saturday despite the Mountaineers’ having a top-50 ranked run defense a season ago. Big plays on the ground could go a long way in changing the outlook of the game.

Expect a balanced Penn State offensive attack with Allar being given every opportunity to throw against a weaker West Virginia secondary. Here are five keys for Penn State’s offense heading into their week one matchup against the Mountaineers:

West Virginia is coming off a 9-4 season and has a dynamic offense, but even with upgrades to the secondary this offseason it looks like the Mountaineers’ weakest group.

The Penn State wide receiver room left a lot to be desired last year. However, with the addition of Julian Fleming and the expected growth from Harrison Wallace III and Kaden Saunders the Nittany Lions seem set up for a bounce-back year. A first game against West Virginia seems like an ideal time to let that talent loose. Kotelnicki was brought in to get skill players open and that should be an emphasis on Saturday.

The weather forecast for Morgantown on Saturday at noon looks to be very interesting. Rain and thunderstorms seem likely around kickoff making an early season road test even trickier.

Throwing the football in wet weather is always challenging, but Allar and the quarterbacks are prepared after playing with wet footballs during Wednesday’s practice. Even more important for the offense is for them to play to their strengths when the weather hits. With two talented running backs and an elite running quarterback, the Nittany Lions have the pieces to play through a wet field and that run the ball. As long as Penn State doesn’t get ahead of themselves, the weather shouldn’t limit the Nittany Lions chances at pulling off the victory.

Drew Allar shined in last year’s matchup against West Virginia while Beau Pribula did not see nearly as much of the field as many expected heading into week one.

This year should be different.

Pribula is just too good to be riding the pine for four quarters. A year after averaging 5.9 yards per carry and scoring six rushing touchdowns, Pribula is a dangerous weapon out of the quarterback position. With a hostile road environment expected his ability running the football can certainty play to Penn State’s advantage. It is exciting to think about what Andy Kotelnicki has in mind for Pribula this year and he seems like the perfect offensive coordinator to get the most out of his dual-threat QB2.

Tyler Warren had a huge game against Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl, but against the Mountaineers last year only caught one pass for nine yards. He is the Penn State receiving target with the most experience and should be an easy target for Drew Allar in week one.

Tight ends can open up the offense for everyone else so a big Tyler Warren game could mean great things for the rest of Penn State’s skill positions.

Easier said than done for sure, but it could be necessary in a wet weather road game against West Virginia. Last year the Mountaineers gave up 4.25 yards per rush and both Penn State running backs averaged over five yards per carry in last season’s matchup. The breakaway runs were missing for most of last year and having those explosive plays back this year would be a big game changer for the Nittany Lions, especially against West Virginia who lost its starting middle linebacker to the NFL.

Who will be Penn State’s punt returner in 2024?

Penn State may have a leader in the competition to return punts for the Nittany Lions this fall.

Penn State has a number of positions to pay attention to during the annual Blue-White spring game as spring football practices come to a close for the year. Among them is the punt returner role, which was left vacant with the departure of Daequan Hardy. With one final week of spring football practices, there appears to be a leader in the clubhouse to take over the primary role this fall according to Penn State special teams coach Justin Lustig.

In a recent session with the media, Justing suggested [autotag]Kadan Saunders[/autotag] may be the guy to beat for the top punt-returning role this season. Saunders brings with him some experience from doing so last season before Hardy proved to be more valuable as the season went along.

“It’s still an open battle at punt returner but I would say he’s in the lead right now, especially with his experience,” Lustig said, according to Lions247. “One thing about punt return is that you can design the system around who the guy is a little bit, too. Kaden maybe wasn’t quite as dynamic as Daequan Hardy, but I still see some ability to hit big returns.”

Saunders had 14 punt returns for a total of 86 return yards last season, with no touchdowns and few big-yard returns of note. Hardy provided some needed explosiveness in his time returning punts with 17 returns for 248 yards with a pair of touchdowns. Of course, as Lustig noted, having a punt returner who is comfortable simply fair catching a punt and preventing the ball from trickling down field for additional yardage is an overlooked asset.

“He’s able to just catch the ball and not let it bounce down the field, and that’s super valuable,” Lustig said about Saunders. “That doesn’t show up in the stats, but that’s as good as a 15-yard return. If you can average 15 yards a return, you’re gonna be top 10 in the country.”

When Penn State wraps up spring practices with the Blue-White Game later this week, pay attention to Saunders in this role. Others that could see some opportunities to field punts could include Liam Clifford and Cam Wallace.

Penn State’s spring game is scheduled for Saturday, April 13 at 2:00 p.m. ET.

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Penn State wide receivers respond to critics following Peach Bowl loss

A couple of Penn State wide receivers seemed to respond to critics on Twitter after the Peach Bowl loss.

You will have a difficult time finding anyone coming to the defense of the Penn State wide receivers following a disappointing showing in the Peach Bowl. Penn State’s 38-25 loss to Ole Miss saw no catches by a wide receiver until the fourth quarter, and by the time the receivers did start making plays, the hole to climb out of was too deep for the Nittany Lions. After the game, the wide receivers took some heat, as did quarterback [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] and head coach [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] for the season-long lack of explosiveness at the receiver position.

And those criticisms were heard loud and clear by at least one member of the Penn State receiving corp. [autotag]Kaden Saunders[/autotag] responded to the critics with a post on his X (formerly known as Twitter) account on Saturday night, hours after Penn State’s loss to Ole Miss.

“All I see on my Twitter is stuff about wide receivers,” Saunders said. “We have more than enough talent, trust me.”

If the talent is in fact there on the roster at the wide receiver position, then the blame should absolutely go on the playcalling all season long. This is a big reason why Penn State made a late season change at offensive coordinator to fire Mike Yurcich from his role as offensive coordinator. Penn State will look to fix the passing game with the addition of new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, who comes to Penn State from Kansas. Given Kotelnicki’s history as an offensive coordinator, that should be filling fans with some optimism going into the 2024 season, which will see Penn State under some serious pressure.

[autotag]Omari Evans[/autotag] may have taken a slightly more veiled response to the same criticisms.

Saunders is coming off his second season in the program. After redshirting the 2022 season with three appearances during the regular season, Saunders made it onto the field in 12 games for the Nittany Lions in the 2023 season. He caught 6 passes for 56 yards and a touchdown. He also played a role on special teams with 14 punt returns for a gain of 86 yards, an average of 6.1 yards per return.

Evans is also coming off his second season with the program. After appearing in all 13 games as a true freshman in 2022, Evans made appearances in 11 games for Penn State in 2023. He caught 4 passes for 94 yards and a touchdown.

Neither player caught a pass in the Peach Bowl.

Saunders and Evans will be two of the players to watch during the spring as Penn State looks to get more out of the wide receiver position.

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Penn State has the perfect rebound opportunity this weekend

Penn State offense looks to get back on track and maybe introduce a new key contributor this weekend vs. Indiana.

After taking its first hit of the season last week at Ohio State, the Penn State Nittany Lions return home to Beaver Stadium this weekend with a chance to bounce back into the win column. The matchup is about as favorable as it could be given the situation for Penn State as they prepare to host an Indiana program that has struggled since the start of the season. Penn State is a big favorite and it is understandable why.

Penn State’s defense continues to be one of the nation’s best every time it steps on the field. The defense should have few problems this weekend against the Hoosiers. Indiana will come to Happy Valley with the nation’s 118th-ranked total offense with an average of 311.7 yards per game. Indiana has the third-worst total offense Penn State will have faced this season. The defense handled Northwestern (126th, 299.3 ypg) and Iowa (133rd, 232.4 ypg) already this season, including a shutout at home against the Hawkeyes.

But the focus will be on the offense this week. While the defense continues to do its thing, this should be a week where the offense regains some confidence in itself, and perhaps explores some new options after getting shut down in a historically embarrassing fashion last weekend.

The lack of explosive plays continue to plague Penn State this season, so it will be interesting to see if the Nittany Lions use this week and next week at Maryland to try creating some explosiveness. Figuring out how to do so in these next two games could be the biggest area of concern for Penn State because a home game against Michigan is looming. If Penn State can’t create big-play opportunities against Indiana and Maryland, then the offense could be destined to be cooked once more by the Wolverines the way Ohio State managed.

Reports from Penn State practices suggest [autotag]Kaden Saunders[/autotag] could be a name to keep an eye on this weekend. The young receiver has been viewed as a potential contributor to the Penn State passing game since his arrival. The redshirt freshman will be carrying the American flag onto the field this week for Penn State’s military appreciation day game, and he will hand the flag to his father, an Army vet. But once the game starts, he may be somebody the offense tries to get involved early on.

Penn State fans are still hoping to see a massive day on the ground from star running back [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag]. Maybe this is the week for that. Indiana has the nation’s 108th-ranked rushing defense with an average of 174.43 rushing yards allowed per game. Indiana is coming off a game in which it allowed 276 rushing yards to Rutgers, and the Hoosiers have allowed 3 rushing touchdowns in each of their last two games against Rutgers and Michigan. Singleton rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown in last year’s 45-14 win at Indiana. Similar to this year, that win against Indiana came in the game following the first loss of the season to Ohio State.

Don’t expect to see everything improve on offense this weekend against Indiana. But what happens this week and next week at Maryland will be instrumental in preparing Penn State to have a better showing against Michigan in a couple of weeks compared to its disappointing result at Ohio State.

There is still much to play for this season, but the offense has some things to figure out if the Nittany Lions are going to make a serious push in the Big Ten and College Football Playoff race.

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What James Franklin said about Daequan Hardy’s big game returning punts

James Franklin pleased with big special teams change that had big impact vs. UMass

Despite having an undefeated record, Penn State head coach [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] was looking for ways to get a few more explosive plays out of his roster as they came out of the bye week. Penn State’s 63-0 victory over UMass didn’t have quite the impact with explosive plays most want to see out of the offense, but there was a bit of a roster change that led to pair of touchdowns on special teams.

[autotag]Kaden Saunders[/autotag] had been the primary punt returner this season. But the athletic and speedy Saunders has not been able to turn a big return for Penn State this season. Against UMass, Penn State gave a new player a few opportunities to return punts. That was the veteran [autotag]Daequan Hardy[/autotag], a respected team leader who has spent most of his time on defense with some kickoff return duty on the side. But he had never returned a punt for Penn State until Saturday.

The move paid off in a big way as Hardy returned not one but TWO punts for touchdowns in Penn State’s 63-0 lead. That included the first score of the game in the first quarter as Penn State’s offense was a bit sluggish to start the game.

“Him and Kaden (Saunders) kind of went into a competition all summer camp with catching punts and returning punts. They battled back and forth,” Penn State head coach James Franklin said in his postgame press conference when asked about using Hardy as a punt returner.

“Kaden had done a nice job of catching the ball all year long. But we weren’t, we weren’t very explosive or making a ton of yardage,” Franklin went on to explain. “That’s no knock on Kaden, he was doing a nice job, but we’re looking to try to create some more big plays not just on offense, but special teams as well.”

Hardy delivered. He became the first Penn State player in school history with two punt returns for a touchdown in the same game.

“So, we wanted to get [Hardy] some opportunities and some reps and obviously he did a did a phenomenal job,” Franklin explained. “So, we got two guys we feel like we can win with but he obviously showed tonight that he could be special.”

When Penn State heads to Ohio State next week, don’t be surprised if we see Hardy get a few more opportunities to make some plays with a punt return.

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Report Card: Grading Penn State’s dominant Week 2 win vs. Delaware

Grading Penn State’s performance against Delaware in Week 2

There are some weeks in the course of a college football season where you can probably fill out the postgame report card ahead of time and not have to worry about it. Penn State’s Week 2 matchup against Delaware was one of those games where you hoped things would go as planned and you wouldn’t have to worry about too many issues against an FCS program.

And they did.

Penn State’s offense and defense each took care of business against the Blue Hens in the first all-time meeting between the two schools. Delaware may go on to have a solid season in the FCS championship hunt, but they were overmatched in every facet of the game against Penn State, which is also hoping to set the tone for what they hope will be a playoff push of their own this season.

It may have been a home game against an FCS program collecting a solid check, but Penn State did just about everything you would expect a top-10 team to do in this situation. Here are the grades for Penn State’s performance following its 63-7 victory over Delaware.

Quarterback

Matthew O’Haren-USA TODAY Sports

Grade: A

After being named the Big Ten offensive player of the week, [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] picked up right where he left off a week ago. The touchdown pass count was down but Allar completed 22 of 26 pass attempts for 204 yards with a touchdown pass (and a touchdown run) for a fine outing before getting an early rest in the second half.

Allar showed great vision and patience and just made smart throws that were taking advantage of the holes Delaware’s defense was giving him.

Backup quarterback Beau Pribula played for most of the second half in relief of Allar. Pribula attempted five attempts with three completions for 22 yards and a short touchdown in the fourth quarter. Pribula added to the ground attack with

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2023 Penn State football snapshot profile: No. 7 Kaden Saunders

As the Class of 2022 leaves its mark on Penn State in 2023, wide receiver Kaden Saunders could still be a year away from securing his big role.

Going into the 2023 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 James Franklin this season.

We continue to take a look at this year’s roster for the Nittany Lions with a snapshot look at one of Penn State’s younger wide receivers hoping to see more steps forward in 2023. Kaden Saunders came to Penn State as one of the notable offensive additions in the Class of 2022, but he may still be working his way up the depth chart while others in the same recruiting class take on more prominent roles on the team this fall. But Saunders is not a name to be forgotten moving forward, and Penn State would love nothing more to see him force himself to be included in the offense this fall.

Which Penn State players can be future NFL draft picks?

What current Penn State football players will be future NFL draft picks?

Ever since [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] took over as the head coach at Penn State in 2014 they have seen their players become NFL players more often. We have seen players such as [autotag]Saquon Barkley[/autotag], [autotag]Jahan Dotson[/autotag], and this year [autotag]Joey Porter Jr.[/autotag] all go in the first round or be projected to be drafted that high.

Becoming a first-round player in the NFL is not something that happens very often for players even if they are highly-ranked recruits. Coaching staffs and competition play a major part but also it comes down to the physical development of the player.

Looking ahead as we enter the week of the 2023 NFL draft, Penn State has just one player who is being projected in the first round but what about in the years to come? Some of those players can already be identified or projected to be drafted highly by the NFL.