Despite a late surge, No. 3 Penn State fell to No. 6 Oregon in front of a near-record White Out crowd on Saturday night in Beaver Stadium.
It was the first major test of the season for both teams, and the Nittany Lions came up short in double overtime after struggling to move the ball for much of the game.
Given the nature of the game, fewer Nittany Lions saw the field compared to previous weeks, and those that did saw increases in snaps, particularly on defense.
Here’s a look at Penn State’s snap counts from the contest, according to PFF, and what it means for the team.
*Season total in parentheses
Quarterbacks
Drew Allar: 60 (241)
Ethan Grunkemeyer 0 (31)
Jaxon Smolik 0 (1)
Allar was the only quarterback to see the field, appearing for all 60 offensive snaps for the Nittany Lions. Despite a poor statistical showing, PFF ranked him as the second-highest graded offensive player on the team at 73.7.
Wide receivers
Kyron Hudson 48 (201)
Trebor Peña 44 (179)
Devonte Ross 36 (128)
Liam Clifford 3 (66)
Koby Howard 0 (26)
Tyseer Denmark 0 (19)
Only four wide receivers saw playing time against the Ducks, including Penn State’s three transfers and Clifford. Ross and Clifford began the season splitting snaps in the slot as Ross worked to recover from an offseason injury, but he’s steadily taken over the role.
Running backs
Nick Singleton: 34 (136)
Kaytron Allen: 28 (124)
Cam Wallace: 0 (15)
Corey Smith: 0 (11)
Singleton once again saw more snaps than Allen, though the touches were more evenly distributed, with Allen seeing 12 carries to Singleton’s 11. Allen more than doubled his counterpart in yardage (54 to 21), though Singleton had three receptions for 29 yards and Allen had two for 12 yards. Allen graded as the best offensive player for Penn State, per PFF.
Tight ends
Luke Reynolds: 45 (155)
Khalil Dinkins: 39 (159)
Andrew Rappleyea: 21 (81)
Joey Schlaffer: 0 (7)
Reynolds led all tight ends in snaps and set a career high, though he and Allar struggled to connect on multiple occasions. Between a combination of misfires and drops, Reynolds hauled in just one reception on six targets and finished with the second lowest passing grade on the team.
Offensive linemen
Nick Dawkins: 60 (241)
Drew Shelton: 60 (241)
Nolan Rucci: 60 (232)
Vega Ioane: 60 (208)
Anthony Donkoh: 56 (207)
TJ Shanahan Jr.: 4 (76)
Cooper Cousins: 2 (67)
Garrett Sexton: 0 (28)
Dom Rulli: 0 (28)
Owen Aliciene: 0 (22)
Eagan Boyer: 0 (4)
J’Ven Williams: 0 (2)
Chimdy Onoh: 0 (2)
Alex Birchmeier: 0 (2)
Ian Harvie: 0 (1)
Four of Penn State’s starters played all 60 snaps, with the exception of right guard Anthony Donkoh. He went down with an injury and was replaced by TJ Shanahan Jr. for four plays before returning for the next drive. The unit graded poorly, with center Dawkins ranking as the worst offensive player in the game at 48.7.
Defensive linemen
Dani Dennis-Sutton: 73 (172)
Zane Durant: 62 (152)
Zuriah Fisher: 62 (113)
Alonzo Ford Jr. 45 (106)
Xavier Gilliam: 40 (110)
Chaz Coleman: 17 (88)
Ty Blanding: 9 (55)
Jaylen Harvey: 8 (66)
Owen Wafle: 2 (46)
Yvan Kemajou: 0 (55)
Enai White: 0 (29)
Randy Adirika: 0 (19)
Cortez Harris: 0 (13)
Bobby Mears: 0 (11)
Liam Andrews: 0 (11)
Sam Siafa: 0 (6)
Many defensive linemen saw the field for Penn State, which signifies both a high level of trust in the team’s depth and likely some fatigue among starters as the game wore on. Dennis-Sutton finished with the highest PFF grade on the team at 79.2, with Fisher ranking second among defensive linemen. Elsewhere, Gilliam surprisingly set a career high in snaps.
Linebackers
Amare Campbell: 75 (194)
Tony Rojas: 70 (176)
Dom DeLuca: 17 (95)
Anthony Speca: 2 (47)
Keon Wylie: 0 (44)
Alex Tatsch: 0 (21)
DaKaari Nelson: 0 (1)
Campbell led all linebackers with 75 snaps and leads all defenders with 194 snaps this season. He was all over the field and recorded a career high 15 tackles in the loss. Rojas played a majority of the game but left briefly in the first quarter after appearing to get banged up. DeLuca saw time in three-linebacker looks.
Defensive backs
Zakee Wheatley: 80 (163)
King Mack: 80 (150)
A.J. Harris: 78 (179)
Zion Tracy: 78 (125)
Audavion Collins: 46 (118)
Elliot Washington II: 36 (101)
Dejuan Lane: 0 (91)
Kenny Woseley Jr.: 0 (87)
Antoine Belgrave-Shorter: 0 (81)
Daryus Dixson: 0 (80)
Vaboue Toure: 0 (51)
Jahmir Joseph: 0 (42)
Kolin Dinkins: 0 (36)
Tyler Armstead: 0 (12)
There were 78 defensive snaps, with Wheatley, Mack, Harris and Tracy out for all of them. Collins and Washington rotated at the second outside cornerback position opposite Harris, while Tracy primarily continued to man the slot. Other than those five, no depth pieces cycled in. Tracy and Wheatley finished No. 2 and No. 4 on the team in PFF game grades.
