Top 10 Plays From Penn State Football’s 2024 Season

Mikey DeAngelis | Onward State

Well, that was fun.

Penn State football went on a historic run during its 2024 campaign, complete with 16 games, an appearance in the Big Ten Championship, and a run to the College Football Playoff semifinals.

Before Drew Allar and a host of other returning Nittany Lions make their 2025 debut against Nevada at home in 220 days, we took a look back through the Nittany Lions’ top plays from the 2024 season.

No. 10 – Dom DeLuca Opens The College Football Playoff

Starting our list is the first College Football Playoff pick-six in program history.

After struggling on offense for the first two offensive series, the Penn State defense decided to take matters into its own hands.

With the first of three interceptions on the day (two from DeLuca) the defense set the stage for a beatdown in Beaver Stadium that sent the Nittany Lions to Phoenix for the Fiesta Bowl.

No. 9 – Tyler Warren’s First Fiesta Bowl Touchdown Catch

Next up (on our list of top-10 plays) is Triple Threat Tyler.

Penn State’s opening drive of the Fiesta Bowl ended with a contested catch in the back of the end zone for the game’s first score.

Tyler Warren, who hadn’t yet scored a touchdown in the postseason, ended the Fiesta Bowl with two highlight-reel touchdown receptions on 63 yards through the air.

No. 8 – Dani Dennis-Sutton Picks Off Riley Leonard

In an Orange Bowl that had been back-and-forth all game, every possession was critical. Dani Dennis-Sutton stole one from the Fighting Irish late in the game on an athletic interception.

GET UP THERE, DANI pic.twitter.com/MSCHHCoAKe
— Onward State (@OnwardState) January 10, 2025

The takeaway led to Nick Singleton’s third rushing touchdown of the night that put the Nittany Lions up 24-17 in what might’ve been the last bright moment in Penn State’s season.

No. 7 – Zion Tracy’s Ohio State Pick-Six

Another defensive gem, next up is Zion Tracy’s 31-yard pick-six against Ohio State in early November.

The Nittany Lions managed an opening-drive field goal on a monster eight-minute drive before Tracy picked off Will Howard on the Buckeye’s first series of the game.

The energy and momentum ended there, though. We all know how that one played out.

No. 6 – Classic Nick Singleton

With Singleton not 100% healthy for the majority of the season, the playoffs became a turning point. Ahead of the Big Ten Championship, Singleton said he was back at 100%. Two games later in the Fiesta Bowl, it showed.

Singleton’s 58-yard run ended up being the dagger that sent the Nittany Lions to the Orange Bowl and was a cap on a dominant night for the running back.

No. 5 – Tony Rojas Goes All The Way

Tony Rojas electrified Beaver Stadium when he rumbled 59 yards to the end zone for the game’s second pick against SMU, putting the Nittany Lions up 14-0.

Rojas, a running back in high school, returned to his old position for a brief period while going all the way to the house in the playoffs on a day when the defense took over.

No. 4 – Ryan Barker’s Game-Winner

In just his second game as the starting placekicker, Ryan Barker was sent out to try a 36-yard game-winning field goal.

The redshirt freshman had already made three field goals en route to the 30-30 stalemate and he continued his streak as the ball sailed through the uprights.

The game-winner marked the first time a Penn State kicker had made four field goals in one game since Tyler Davis did it in 2016 and tied for the program’s fifth-most makes in a single game.

No. 3 – Julian Fleming In The Clutch

The second of two fourth-down conversions during the Nittany Lions’ game-tying drive against USC, this one never looked like it would succeed.

However, as Allar navigated the pocket and found Julian Fleming, it did. It was Fleming’s ninth catch of the season and second catch of the day, with his first coming on the prior fourth-down try.

No. 2 – James Franklin Trickery

The play that saved the season.

The Nittany Lions were on the ropes and nursing a one-point lead late in the game against Minnesota after struggling all day. Facing a 4th-and-1 from the Penn State 34-yard line, James Franklin trotted out Riley Thompson and Co. to punt the ball away.

Franklin had a gutsy play call up his sleeve, though, and the Nittany Lions executed to perfection.

After a direct snap on the fake, Luke Reynolds rushed to the Minnesota 34-yard line and Penn State sealed the victory with two more fourth-down conversions.

No. 1 – Tyler Warren Tries Out For Center

Who else but Tyler Warren?

Topping this year’s list is Warren’s self-snapped, double-pass touchdown reception against USC last October. Not only did the Nittany Lions execute the double pass part of the play, Warren had to make an impressive grab in the end zone with a defender hanging off of him.

While it was Warren’s only touchdown catch of the day, the senior tight end finished the game with 17 receptions for 224 yards in an absolutely dominant performance in Los Angeles. The SportsCenter Top 10-worthy catch cut the USC lead to seven and the Nittany Lions eventually pulled out the win, albeit with some help from plays No. 3 and No. 4.

Enjoy it one more time, folks. It deserves it.

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About the Author

CJ Doebler

CJ is a senior finance major and is Onward State's sports editor. He is from Northumberland, Pa, just east of State College. CJ is an avid Pittsburgh sports fan but chooses to ignore the Pirates' existence. For the occasional random retweet and/or bad take, follow @CDoebler on Twitter. All complaints can be sent to cj@onwardstate.com.

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