Penn State Football Players Dani Dennis-Sutton, Zane Durant, & Vega Ioane Make Midseason Lombardi Award Watch List
Penn State football stars Dani Dennis-Sutton, Zane Durant, and Vega Ioane were pinned to the Lombardi Award midseason watch list, the organization announced Thursday.
The Lombardi Award annually honors college football’s best lineman, offensive or defensive, who best displays Vince Lombardi’s character, discipline, and ability. Penn State has won the award twice before, with Bruce Clark taking it home in 1978 and Carl Nassib in 2015.
While the season hasn’t gone as Penn State expected so far, it still finds three linemen in contention for the award after six games.
Edge rusher Dennis-Sutton has racked up 23 total tackles, 5.5 tackles-for-loss, two sacks, two forced fumbles, and back-to-back weeks with a blocked punt against UCLA and Northwestern so far in 2025. He’s quieted down since his stellar opening performance against Nevada, but is still a consistent threat coming off the edge.
Durant has 18 total tackles, 2.5 tackles-for-loss, two sacks, and one interception. The defensive tackle is also named to watch lists for the Outland Trophy, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, and Bednarik Award.
Ioane has started all six games of 2025 so far for the Nittany Lions. While the unit’s play has been mildly inconsistent, perhaps a new leaf with Ethan Grunkemeyer and Terry Smith at the helm can steer the ship. Ioane is also under consideration for the Outland Trophy and the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Award.
The organization will present the award in early December.
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