Penn State Ended Another Big Ten Streak With Win at Michigan State

The Nittany Lions' Kaytron Allen and Dani Dennis-Sutton are named Big Ten players of the week.

Penn State Nittany Lions defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton (33) celebrates a sack of Michigan State Spartans quarterback Alessio Milivojevic (11) in the fourth quarter at Spartan Stadium. | Brendan Mullin-Imagn Images

Twelve weeks into the college football season, Penn State finally has a Big Ten player of the week. In fact, the Nittany Lions have two.

Penn State defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton was named the Big Ten defensive player of the week for his standout performance in the Nittany Lions' 28-10 win over Michigan State. And running back Kaytron Allen was named the co-offensive player of the week after rushing for a career-high 181 yards.

Penn State ended a six-game Big Ten losing streak at Michigan State, its longest conference slide since the 2004 season. And Dennis-Sutton and Allen are Penn State's first two conference players of the week this season.

Until this week, Penn State was the only Big Ten team without a weekly award-winner. The Big Ten recognizes offensive, defensive and special teams players of the week as well as a freshman of the week.

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Dennis-Sutton played his most productive game of the season at Michigan State, where he recorded two second-half sacks of Spartans quarterback Alessio Milivojevic. It was Dennis-Sutton first multi-sack game of the season. According to Pro Football Focus, Dennis-Sutton generated 13 quarterback pressures and earned a position grade of 90.9.

The senior also blocked his third punt of the season, tying Penn State's single-season record held by Jack Ham and Andre Collins. With one more, Dennis-Sutton would tie Penn State's career record for blocked punts, also held by Ham and Collins.

Dennis-Sutton became Penn State's first Big Ten defensive player of the week since Abdul Carter in September 2024.

B1G Defensive POTW

▫️2.0 Sacks
▫️13 QB Pressures
▫️90.9 Pass Rush Grade (PFF)#WeAre | @TheDaniDennis pic.twitter.com/NeT8FYDx3I

— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) November 17, 2025

Allen, also a senior, ran for 181 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries against the Spartans. He punctuated the Nittany Lions' victory with a 26-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter. Allen shared the Big Ten weekly award with Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza.

Allen is Penn State's first Big Ten offensive award-winner since Tyler Warren in November 2024. He ranks third in the Big Ten in rushing yardage (917) and first in average yards per carry (5.63) among conference running backs with at least 150 attempts.

Allen can set one of Penn State's most significant career records Saturday, when the Nittany Lions host Nebraska. Allen is 139 yards from breaking Evan Royster's all-time rushing record of 3,932. Allen (3,794 yards) currently ranks third behind Royster and Saquon Barkley (3,843) on Penn State's career-rushing list.

"Obviously the most important goal is to win the game, but we do know in our keys to victory every week is for Kaytron and Nick [Singleton] to touch the ball, and if they're touching the ball, that means we're going to get closer to that goal," Penn State interim head coach Terry Smith said. "I want nothing more than for him to have the opportunity to break the goal, but it's paramount for us to get him the football for us to have success. So they work hand in hand. Hopefully we can get it."

Penn State (4-6) hosts Nebraska (7-3) in its final home game of the season Saturday at Beaver Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on NBC.

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Make that 181 yards and 2 TD for Kaytron Allen 🙌 @PennStateFball pic.twitter.com/2tW4EvV627

— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) November 15, 2025