Penn State football sent out a group of its younger players to represent the team at THON 2025. Although women’s volleyball was declared champions and football lost out to men’s golf as a finalist, there were still some positives from the performance.

The youngsters showed flashes of what they could bring to Beaver Stadium in the future during their short dance number. Here’s our breakdown of what we saw from James Franklin’s squad.

Impressive Footwork

The group started their performance in a cluster where they displayed impressive footwork with their dance moves. They showed that they can move light and fast on their feet. It didn’t look unnatural and it wasn’t clunky either.

These Nittany Lions may have had smooth feet on the dance floor, but we’ll have to see how well that translates to the field. Ohio State and Michigan aren’t worried about dance moves.

Effortless Athleticism

A few of the skill position players showed why their skill position players. John Mitchell and Corey Smith ran through the human tunnel and caught some major air on each of their front flips. And they made it look easy, too.

Although Mitchell hasn’t had many chances to show off his athletic ability in front of fans yet, Smith played in four games as a true freshman last season and even broke off an explosive 78-yard run in the White Out against Washington.

Give these guys a few more years to develop and some future starters could’ve just graced the THON stage.

Dejuan Lane Can Dance

Speaking of effortless athleticism, Dejuan Lane not only played in all 16 games as a true freshman this fall, but he led a dance solo during the football team’s performance. He stood in front of the rest of the group and started to break it down front and center of the stage.

No wonder he caught Franklin’s eye almost immediately after he enrolled last June. With moves like that, it’d be impossible to miss him. Plus, if this football thing doesn’t work out, it looks like “Dancing with the Stars” may want him. It wouldn’t be the first time a Penn State alumnus chose that route.

Talented Offensive Linemen

We talked about how impressive the skill position guys were, but the big fellas know how to dance, too. The dance routine started with Cooper Cousins and Donnie Harbour pickup and carrying Kenny Woseley Jr. with linebackers Anthony Speca and Kari Jackson there for support.

The linemen also displayed good footwork and some athleticism with their moves. When Lane did his front flip, Cousins followed him through the tunnel and did a basic leap, but still got up pretty high, especially for a lineman.

The Ending

After the dance solos and the flips, the ending wasn’t anything to write home about, and that was probably why they weren’t named a finalist. If you’ve watched Penn State football over the last few seasons, you can probably see the irony.

There was a lot left to be desired. They just kind of stood there and swayed back and forth until they moved back to the front of the stage at the end. It wasn’t anything special, and it probably hurt them, despite the rest of the impressive performance.