Roar Tour Visits Columbus
Our Central Ohio Chapter did a fabulous job hosting the Roar Tour Friday Night Mixer. Several hundred alumni attended the event at Crooked Can Brewing Company in nearby Hilliard, about 12 miles from Columbus. Chapter President Cindy Dell ’79 (second from right) and her fellow chapter leaders are pictured above.
The evening featured performances from the Pep Band, Penn State Cheerleaders, and Nittany Lion, along with raffles, giveaways, shakers, food, and alumni and fans catching up with one another. We spoke with Dell on Friday night, and she discussed the momentum she and the group have created over the last few years. Keep an eye out for that article in a future issue of The Football Letter.
See a handful of more photos below, and see our full events gallery online, which includes photos from our pep rally.
Game Notes
Penn State is now 14–27 all-time against Ohio State, including 7–16 in road matchups.
The Nittany Lions are 4–14 all-time against teams ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll.
OL Cooper Cousins made his first career start. He is the 10th Nittany Lion to make his first collegiate start this season and the 16th Penn Stater to make his first start at Penn State.
Penn State has not allowed a special teams touchdown in 85 straight games, dating back to the start of the 2019 season.
Penn State scored a touchdown on a 15-play, 75-yard drive in the second quarter. It was the first first-half touchdown given up by Ohio State this season.
The 15-play, 75-yard drive covered 7:50, was Penn State’s second longest by time, behind 8:21 against Iowa, and tied for second longest by plays.
Penn State is 10–2 when running backs Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton both score a rushing touchdown.
Ethan Grunkemeyer completed 19 of 28 passes for 145 yards. He set career highs for completions (19) and passing yards (145). His previous highs were 15 completions for 93 yards at Iowa. Grunkemeyer tied a career high with 28 pass attempts. He also had 28 attempts at Iowa.
Kaytron Allen rushed for 76 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries and scored on a 1-yard rush in the second quarter. With his 34th career rushing touchdown, Allen moved into a tie for fifth all-time at Penn State with Ki-Jana Carter (34; 1992–94). He has a rushing touchdown in all eight games this season. The last Nittany Lion with a rushing touchdown in eight straight games was Saquon Barkley (9; 2016–17). Allen and Iowa QB Mark Gronowski are the only FBS players with a rushing touchdown in all of their teams’ games this season. Allen now has 678 career rushing attempts. He sits second all-time at Penn State behind only Evan Royster (686; 2006–10). On the day, Allen passed Saquon Barkley (676; 2015–17).
On his first carry of the game, a 26-yard rush, Allen went over 4,000 career all-purpose yards, becoming the 11th Nittany Lion to reach that mark. He owns 4,071 all-purpose yards, sitting ninth all-time at Penn State. On Saturday, Allen jumped Curtis Enis (4,034; 1995–97) and Bobby Engram (4,043; 1991, 93–95).
Nicholas Singleton scored on a 3-yard rush in the second quarter. It was his 39th career rushing touchdown, breaking a tie with Lydell Mitchell (38; 1969–71). He is four rushing touchdowns behind Saquon Barkley’s (43; 2015–17) program record. Singleton owns 48 career total touchdowns (39 rushing, eight receiving, one kick return). He is five touchdowns behind Saquon Barkley’s (53; 2015–17) all-time mark.
On a 16-yard reception in the second quarter, Singleton moved into second all-time at Penn State in career all-purpose yards, passing Larry Johnson (5,045; 1999–02). Singleton owns 5,088 all-purpose yards.
Koby Howard hauled in a 26-yard reception in the fourth quarter. The 26-yard reception is a career-long. His previous long catch was 14 yards at Iowa.
In the second quarter, Penn State defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton forced a fumble, which was recovered by defensive end Chaz Coleman and returned 8 yards to the Ohio State 14. It was Penn State’s 10th takeaway this season, including five fumble recoveries and five interceptions.
Since 2022, Penn State has forced 86 takeaways (51 interceptions, 35 fumbles).
Dennis-Sutton collected his seventh career forced fumble, moving him into a tie for fifth all-time at Penn State with Bruce Clark (7; 1976–79) and Brandon Bell (7; 2013–15).
Defensive end Yvan Kemajou notched a solo tackle for loss in the third quarter. He owns three career tackles for loss.
Linebacker Amare Campbell posted a team-high eight tackles (five solo) and a half-tackle for loss. He owns 18.5 career tackles for loss.
Linebacker Keon Wylie registered a solo tackle for loss in the first quarter. He owns 6.5 career tackles for loss.
Cornerback Audavion Collins recorded a solo tackle for loss in the third quarter. He has five career tackles for loss.
Safety Zakee Wheatley eclipsed the 200-career tackle mark. He owns 205 career stops.
Safety Antoine Belgrave-Shorter tallied three tackles in the first half and finished the game with a career-high five stops. His previous career high was three tackles, which he achieved on two occasions, most recently against FIU.
Ryan Barker converted both of his extra-point attempts. He is now 76 of 77 on career PATs.
Gabriel Nwosu averaged 49.8 yards per punt on six punts and landed a punt at OSU 11 in the first quarter. He hit a 63-yard punt in the second quarter. Nwosu blasted a 55-yard punt to the Ohio State 16 and booted a 59-yard punt to the Ohio State 21 in the third quarter. The redshirt senior owns 10 career punts inside the 20 and six career punts of 50-plus yards.
Corey Smith had a 24-yard kick return in the second quarter.