Penn State football (6-6, 3-6 Big Ten) outlasted Rutgers (5-7, 2-7 Big Ten) 40-36 in SHI Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Over 1,000 yards of combined offense created a tense season finale for Penn State. Kaytron Allen led the way as usual in his final regular-season game as a Nittany Lion, rushing for his first-career 200-yard game. Nick Singleton added two touchdowns on the ground as he surpassed Saquon Barkley to become Penn State’s all-time rushing and total touchdowns leader, while also setting a new program record for all-purpose yards.

Rutgers running back Antwan Raymond gashed the Nittany Lions’ defense for 189 yards, but Athan Kaliakmanis’ fumbled snap and Amare Campbell’s subsequent touchdown return midway through the fourth quarter propelled Penn State to a win. The Nittany Lions won their third consecutive game, clinched bowl eligibility, and ended Rutgers’ season.

How It Happened

Rutgers running back Antwan Raymond picked up four yards on the ground on the first play from scrimmage. Quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis tossed it to Raymond on second down, who made a nice move outside for a 16-yard gain.

Kaliakmanis kept the chains moving with a 17-yard pass to Ian Strong and a 19-yard dart to KJ Duff as Rutgers entered the red zone. Raymond carried it 19 yards to the house to cap off a stellar opening drive for the Scarlet Knights.

Nick Singleton returned a short kick to the 38-yard line as the Penn State offense trotted onto the field. Kaytron Allen rushed for five yards on the Nittany Lions’ first offensive play.

The Scarlet Knights kept Allen behind the chains on the following two plays. On 4th-and-1, Ethan Grunkemeyer found a wide-open Andrew Rappleyea downfield for a 53-yard touchdown. Koby Howard made a critical block to allow Rappleyea to waltz in for the score.

RAPP TO THE CRIBpic.twitter.com/Fd5YmvkEh5

— Onward State (@OnwardState) November 29, 2025

Kenny Fletcher Jr. rattled off a 25-yard chunk down the sideline to open its next drive. Raymond rushed for six more before Duff powered through a pass interference call for another 20-yard chunk.

Kaliakmanis took another chunk shot, but freshman Daryus Dixson broke up the pass, almost coming down with the rock. The Scarlet Knights tried a fake field goal, but Zion Tracy sniffed it out to force the turnover-on-downs.

Allen busted through a gaping hole and rattled off a 55-yard rush to pin Penn State down at Rutgers’ 20-yard line. Singleton rushed right for eight yards before punching it from 11 yards out, surpassing Saquon Barkley as Penn State’s all-time rushing touchdown leader with No. 44 and total touchdown leader with No. 54.

A PROGRAM LEGEND

Nick Singleton has broken the program record for all-time rushing touchdowns and all-time total touchdowns by a non-quarterback! pic.twitter.com/CnpPScjLKl

— Onward State (@OnwardState) November 29, 2025

Penn State forced Rutgers into a 4th-and-1 from its own 35-yard line, but an illegal substitution on the Nittany Lions handed the Scarlet Knights a free first down. Kaliakmanis and Fletcher Jr. connected for 39 yards before a strong 11-yard rush from the Rutgers signal caller. Samuel Brown V brought Rutgers down to Penn State’s 2-yard line, allowing Kaliakmanis to take it in for the score up the middle.

Grunkemeyer targeted his favorite receiver in Trebor Peña down the right side, but Rutgers defensive back Bo Mascoe punched the ball away in time. Singleton exposed a hole on the left side, punching a 53-yard gain and almost taking it to the house before getting tripped up by Jett Elad. Grunkemeyer took an end zone shot to Devonte Ross with a Rutgers offsides, but Elad broke it up. Allen almost walked into the end zone on 1st-and-5 from the 31-yard line, but Elad tripped him up as well.

However, the Rutgers defense soon found out that the Fatman is inevitable. The star running back spun around for a 15-yard score to open the second quarter.

BOOM pic.twitter.com/5Rf9oRCDmA

— Onward State (@OnwardState) November 29, 2025

The Penn State defense got a much-needed stop on a third-down sack on Kaliakmanis. Peña downed the punt at Penn State’s own 40-yard line.

Rutgers quickly worked the Nittany Lions into a 3rd-and-8, where Grunkemeyer and Ross miscommunicated on a downfield route. Grunkemeyer went down hard on the play. Gabe Nwosu trotted out for his first punt of the day, pinning the Scarlet Knights at their own 16-yard line.

Penn State forced another stop as the game slowed down from its first-quarter shootout. Grunkemeyer flipped it to Luke Reynolds up the middle for nine yards. Allen moved the chains with five more before Grunkemeyer rifled a 14-yard pass over the middle to Rappleyea.

Grunkemeyer loosed a deep shot down the far sideline to Singleton, but his pass fell incomplete. The drive fell apart after an 11-yard sack on Grunkemeyer by Rutgers linebacker Dariel Djabome on second down.

Rutgers dug itself out of its own 11-yard line behind a strong series of runs from Raymond and Kaliakmanis. Raymond rattled off 22 yards on the ground going into the two-minute warning, pushing the Scarlet Knights into Penn State territory.

Kaliakmanis continued dealing with a 13-yard strike to Strong. Raymond somehow avoided Dani Dennis-Sutton in the backfield, turning a surefire tackle-for-loss into seven positive Scarlet Knight yards.

Raymond pushed through the heart of the Penn State defense for a first down before Dom DeLuca punished Kaliakmanis with one of the hardest hits of Penn State’s season for a 6-yard sack. Rutgers called timeout.

However, Kaliakmanis came back up firing. He picked out a wide-open DT Sheffield across the field for the game-tying touchdown just before the half. Tracy slipped in coverage.

Penn State marched down with just under 30 seconds remaining in the first half behind pick a 42-yard catch from Ross, which he almost wriggled free from for a touchdown, and a 23-yard catch by Peña up the seam. Ryan Barker converted a 31-yard field goal with one second remaining as the Nittany Lions stole three points going into halftime. Penn State led 24-21.

Rutgers forced Penn State into another 4th-and-short situation to open the second half. Grunkemeyer threw a screen pass to Peña that was nearly tipped off the line, but Peña reeled it in for the fresh set of downs.

Grunkemeyer continued with the screens, tossing one to Singleton for 14 yards. Kyron Hudson drew a pass interference call on the following play as Penn State entered the red zone.

Allen and Singleton carried Penn State to 3rd-and-3, but the Scarlet Knights read Grunkemeyer’s screen to Peña perfectly. Barker booted three points in from 29 yards out.

Rutgers overcame an early holding call on its next drive with a 33-yard dime from Kaliakmanis to Duff down the near sideline. Duff reeled in a one-handed catch, but a holding call on A.J. Harris gave Rutgers a 10-yard chunk.

Raymond made another strong run up the middle for 15 yards and another Rutgers first down deep in Penn State territory. Kaliakmanis connected with Duff on a deep slant route for Rutgers’ go-ahead touchdown. The Scarlet Knights led 28-27 midway through the third frame.

Grunkemeyer and Hudson connected for a 23-yard gain before Allen generated a positive 8-yard dash. Grunkemeyer checked it down to Rappleyea to move the chains and enter Rutgers territory.

Allen powered through a gaping hole down the left side for 43 yards. An illegal-hands-to-the-face call added half the distance to the goal from the end of the run, putting Penn State down to Rutgers’ 1-yard line. Singleton took care of it from there.

walks in for 6⃣pic.twitter.com/KYPdRyuC2n

— Onward State (@OnwardState) November 29, 2025

Penn State tried the two-point conversion to go up by a full seven points. Grunkemeyer faked it right and flipped the field to offensive lineman Drew Shelton, but he dropped the pass. The Nittany Lions led 33-28 going into the final minute.

Raymond carried a pile of Nittany Lions and Scarlet Knights alike on Rutgers’ opening play of its subsequent drive, dragging them for a 12-yard gain to end the third quarter.

Fletcher trucked through some Penn State defenders until Amare Campbell finally wrestled him down. Kaliakmanis lofted a pass to a wide-open Raymond on a wheel route for a 46-yard touchdown. King Mack blitzed on the play. Kaliakmanis found Duff in the back of the end zone for a successful two-point try. Rutgers went up 36-33 with 13:33 remaining in the game.

Grunkemeyer underthrew a deep shot to Ross up the middle before Rutgers pounded Singleton behind the line of scrimmage. Grunkemeyer threw it to Allen in the flat on 3rd-and-13, who managed to make it a 4th-and-1. Rappleyea pushed Grunkemeyer through on a quarterback sneak for the first down, but a delay of game call forced Penn State to punt. Grunkemeyer was livid, heading to the sideline.

A false start on the punt on DaKaari Nelson pushed Penn State back an additional five yards. Nwosu’s punt took a good bounce to pin Rutgers at its own 26-yard line.

Tracy zoomed in off the edge to trip up Raymond early. Dixson broke up a deep pass to Strong. Raymond waltzed through a left-side hole on 3rd-and-9 to move the chains.

Raymond’s production didn’t end there. He picked up eight, 18, and three yards before Kaliakmanis fumbled the snap. Campbell picked up the ball and returned it 61 yards for the score. Barker’s extra point handed Penn State a 40-36 lead with just over seven minutes remaining in the game.

DEFENSE pic.twitter.com/CigaWljr8A

— Onward State (@OnwardState) November 29, 2025

Dennis-Sutton and Yvan Kemajou combined for a sack on Kaliakmanis. The Rutgers quarterback loosed a 42-yard pass to Duff down the sideline, who adjusted and made an improbable one-handed catch. Kaliakmanis gained one yard on third down before Campbell wrestled him down outside of the pocket to force the turnover-on-downs.

Penn State found itself behind the chains early on its next drive, but Allen belted a 50-yard rush to eclipse 200 yards on the day and generate another career-best performance. The run set Penn State up at Rutgers’ 28-yard line.

Grunkemeyer flipped a pass to Ross, who gained 10 yards and another fresh set of downs. Allen received the next three rushes, but couldn’t penetrate for the dagger as Rutgers burned its final timeout. On 4th-and-2, Grunkemeyer found Rappleyea across the middle and picked up the game-clinching first down. Grunkemeyer kneeled it out.

Takeaways

• The two offenses set the shootout tone early by scoring on five of the game’s first six drives. Penn State scored a touchdown on its first three series, while Rutgers scored on its first and third drives of the game. The Scarlet Knights only failed to score by running a fake field goal. The offenses as a whole put on a show. Penn State ended with 509 total yards of offense to Rutgers’ 533, good for a combined total of 1,042.
• After dominant showings in back-to-back weeks, Penn State’s defense struggled massively against the Scarlet Knights. A consistent storyline and recipe for disaster for the Nittany Lions in 2025 is their struggle defending the run. Rutgers running back Antwan Raymond scorched Penn State with 189 yards and one touchdown. However, the unit reeled it in in the fourth quarter with its 61-yard fumble return touchdown to propel Penn State to the victory.
• Kaytron Allen rushed for another career-high after just breaking it against Michigan State two weeks ago. Allen pounded the ground for 226 yards and one touchdown. The Fatman is inevitable.
• Nick Singleton broke the Penn State records for rushing touchdowns, total touchdowns, and all-purpose yards against the Scarlet Knights. He ended his day with 86 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns, and 23 receiving yards. It hasn’t been the prettiest season for the senior, but a strong second half of the campaign propelled him to the top of Penn State’s record books.

What’s Next?

Penn State is going bowling, folks! The Nittany Lions’ bowl designation is to be determined.