After No. 2 Penn State football's Week 3 win over Villanova, the Nittany Lions headed into their first bye week with a perfect, 3-0 record. Head coach James Franklin shared that recruitment was going to be a major focus for the coaching staff while taking advantage of an extra week to prepare for Oregon in Week 5. While football took wins on the field and with the class of 2027, No. 13 women's volleyball dipped back to .500 even after losing to No. 5 Pittsburgh on Wednesday night.
Here's everything you missed.
Week 4 bye week brought success for Penn State football recruitment
Franklin has a long list of recruits scheduled to visit for the White Out game against the Ducks. During the bye week, class of 2027's Xavier Hasan penciled in Penn State on his calendar. The No. 49 overall recruit in the country already visited Notre Dame, one of his top schools, in Week 3 when it lost to Texas A&M. In order to ward off the Fighting Irish from winning recruitment battles against the Nittany Lions, a win against Oregon is critical.
Five-star tight end Brock Williams also announced his top five schools and Penn State made it into the mix. The Nittany Lions will have to beat out Georgia, Ohio State, Texas, and USC to filter in another talented tight end. Williams is the No. 32 overall recruit in the country and would fit in well with their current class of 2027 that's filled with blue-chip recruits.
Hope to flip Titan Davis from Michigan isn't lost yet either. Franklin won't back down and is trying to get Davis on campus for an official game day visit. While he has yet to schedule one and hasn't been outwardly accepting of adding additional visits to his to-do list, the door on Penn State hasn't shut completely. Successfully getting Davis to Happy Valley and making progress in the flipping process would give the Nittany Lions a much-needed boost in their class of 2026.
Five-star running back Kemon Spell claims loyalty to Nittany Lions
Kemon Spell, who committed to Penn State in Aug. 2024, took a visit to Happy Valley during Week 3 when he was initially scheduled to see Notre Dame. Despite choosing the Nittany Lions, there were still questions as to whether he'll stay committed to Franklin's team. The No. 1 running back in the country answered that quickly, commenting "I am staying" on social media.
Tyler Warren stands out among all rookies after Week 2 performance
Former Penn State tight end Tyler Warren had an impressive rookie showing in his first two weeks of the NFL regular season. His four catches for 79 yards in Week 2 against the Denver Broncos made a good case for him to earn NFL Rookie of the Week. Between his stats and blocks, Warren is showing exactly why he should have been the first tight end taken off the board in the 2025 NFL Draft, but the Indianapolis Colts are reaping the benefits of him getting left on it.
Penn State women's volleyball falls to Pittsburgh in in-state battle
The Nittany Lions haven't performed their best against ranked team so far in 2025. On Wednesday night, they fell 3-1 to Pittsburgh as stars Kennedy Martin and Olivia Babcock went head-to-head. Attack errors are sifting their way out of the concerns, and head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley has worthy backups ready to take the court when necessary. Outside hitter Caroline Jurevicius hasn't been consistent in exploiting blocks, but when her performance isn't up to standards, freshman Alexis Ewing is right there to sub in.
Defense, serve-receive, and serving is where things get tricky for Penn State. With Martin's height at six-feet-six-inches, she isn't as clean on defense as the Nittany Lions prefer. However, her talent can't be replaced, so subbing her out isn't an option. The more reps Martin gets in, the better she'll get as the season progresses, but it needs to happen sooner rather than later so they don't dip below the .500 mark.
Back at serve-receive, too, imperfect passes force Penn State to get out of system. While it can manage, it's not ideal to be so chaotic on the first play of the point. Then when serving, handing points over to ranked teams needs to minimize. The Nittany Lions can't give their opponents an upper hand by putting tough servers back at the service line to exploit their less than optimal serve-receive.
Thankfully, a win over Princeton on Friday night boosted Penn State back into winning record territory. It needs to carry energy and momentum into matches against ranked teams.