Penn State fall sports are ramping up with women's volleyball already checking two games off its season and football getting ready to take on Nevada at home. Meanwhile, the past and future of Penn State football is teetering.
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Penn State women's volleyball starts undefeated with 2-0 record against ranked teams
The Nittany Lions had an offensive-dominant performance against No. 12 Creighton on Saturday, Aug. 23, sweeping the Blue Jays in three sets. Junior transfer Kennedy Martin showed exactly why she was a hot target for schools the second she entered the Transfer Portal after 2024. She was explosive all around the court, hitting right side and back row consistently. Martin tallied 14 kills on the evening and was awarded game MVP.
Monday was a different story for Penn State. The No. 14 Kansas team swallowed up the Nittany Lions' offense with Jayhawk right side hitter Jovana Zelenovic putting up 10 blocks. Penn State outside hitter Emmi Sellman was the main target for setter Izzy Starck with Martin getting some kills around the court, but Zelenovic went up time and time again to shut Sellman out.
Starck and middle blocker Maggie Mendelson needed to connect and get creative to win the match. Along with those sneaky plays to get the Nittany Lions back into rhythm, Caroline Jurevicius offered the spark for Penn State to feed off of on the outside when Sellman wasn't selling. Jurevicius was awarded game MVP Monday night. After falling 2-1 in the night, the Nittany Lions dug deep to win the fourth set 30-28 and eventually take the fifth set 15-12.
Penn State football kicks off season at Beaver Stadium against Nevada on Saturday
Penn State's college football season starts Saturday, Aug. 30 with kickoff at Beaver Stadium slated for 3:30 p.m. ET against Nevada. The game can be watched live on CBS or streamed on Paramont+ with Brad Nessler, Gary Danielson, and Jenny Dell calling from the booth and sideline. It'll be the first time the Nittany Lions and Wolf Pack meet in program histories, and head coach James Franklin's team has the upper hand with a 6-0 record against Mountain West teams while Nevada has a 2-6 record against the Big Ten.
Fans can expect to see Antoine Belgrave-Shorter starting at safety opposite of Zakee Wheatley. The redshirt freshman pulled off an upset at fall camp to earn his spot over Dejuan Lane and King Mack, and Franklin confirmed on Monday that Belgrave-Shorter will lead the trio. Lane and Mack will still see time on the field, but will play behind the fall camp standout.
Daryus Dixson and Chaz Coleman are new faces fans can expect to see in 2025 after Franklin said on Monday that they can burn the redshirt and were given the green light. A.J. Harris will lead Penn State at cornerback, but Dixson will be a consistent face in the rotation. As for Coleman, his explosive fall camp proved he can work into the rotation with veterans at edge.
James Franklin hopes to keep CO'27 five-star RB committed and land four-star QB
Five-star running back Kemon Spell committed to Franklin's program over a year ago on Aug. 2, 2024. As the 2025 season is now underway, he told Rivals that he's not locked in with the Nittany Lions. Spell pointed to six teams that have a decent shot at flipping him and that he plans to make game day visits to this fall: Ohio State, Michigan, USC, Alabama, Tennessee, and Notre Dame.
In hopes to retain the running back, Penn State also earned a final three spot on four-star quarterback Keegan Croucher's narrowed down list. Franklin will need to beat out Oregon and Ole Miss to land the quarterback, and he desperately needs to as well after losing QB battles in the class of 2027 and falling back on just one in the class of 2026.
The hunt for a five-star headliner isn't over for the Nittany Lions' class of 2026. Zion Elee said Penn State is one of three schools he responds to that isn't Maryland where he's currently committed. For Franklin to pull off a successful flip, he'll have to ward off Miami and South Carolina in addition to pushing the Big Ten school to the side.
Micah Parsons' fate with the Cowboys isn't certain, but there's belief he stays in Dallas
Former Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons has had a tough time with Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones. After his quiet social media moves, he proceeded to make a statement at Thursday night's preseason game against the Atlanta Falcons. Parsons was the only player not wearing his jersey and lied down on the training table during the game at times.
Now, quarterback Dak Prescott entered the picture, giving his thoughts on the matter again. Prescott said that he believes Parsons will be out there Week 1 against the Philadelphia Eagles. Based on the defensive end's clean MRI, if Dallas sends him a letter saying he's good to play and can lose roughly $5.33 million this season if he doesn't, Cowboys fans might see Parsons out on the field.