Even after winning two College Football Playoff games last season, in the minds of many, “Big Game James” Franklin still hasn’t gotten over the hump. So, the 2025 season could be the ultimate make-or-break year for the longtime head coach of the Nittany Lions. With the addition of Syracuse transfer wide receiver Trebor Pena, he proved that he’s going all-in on winning a national title and put pressure on his quarterback to deliver it.
After Penn State’s CFP semifinal exit in a heartbreaking loss to Notre Dame last season, Franklin appeared to use most of his resources on keeping his roster together, retaining quarterback Drew Allar, running backs Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton, defensive linemen Dani Dennis-Sutton and Zane Durant, and others in Happy Valley instead of the NFL draft or the transfer portal.
Yet, even after making a few fringe portal additions in the winter and hiring defensive coordinator Jim Knowles away from Ohio State with a big-money deal, Franklin and the Penn State boosters apparently still had a few arrows left in the quiver.
Penn State adds the prize of the spring portal window
The Nittany Lions made a huge splash in the spring transfer portal window by bringing in Pena, who led the ACC in receptions last season. Pena caught 84 passes for the Orange and finished with 941 yards and nine touchdowns. The 6-foot, 184-pound veteran was prolific from the slot and a highly sought-after player once he hit the open market.
Pena left Syracuse amidst an NIL dispute, so his services likely didn’t come cheap. Still, they’re worth whatever cost Franklin had to pay because Pena is exactly what the Nittany Lions needed to get championship-caliber play out of Allar.
Pena’s arrival will further unlock Drew Allar
Allar took a massive step forward a season ago, yet in the biggest games of the year, he struggled with interceptions, and the passing game relied far too heavily on tight end Tyler Warren. Warren was a generational talent and the first tight end to finish top 10 in Heisman Trophy voting since the 1970s, but his creative usage was also born out of necessity.
The Nittany Lions just didn’t have enough talent at wide receiver last season. You could even argue that his two backbreaking interceptions, first against Oregon in the Big Ten Championship Game and then against Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl, were made possible because his receivers were non-competitive in a contested catch situation. Allar didn’t complete a single pass to a wide receiver in the Orange Bowl because, frankly, no wide receivers got any separation.
After that loss, Harrison Wallace III and Omari Evans both fled for the transfer portal, and their replacements were already in place: USC transfer Kyron Hudson and Troy transfer Devonte Ross. While Hudson and Ross are significant upgrades, Hudson providing physicality as a 50/50 ball winner and Ross stretching the field vertically, it still left the Nittany Lions with a noticeable hole in the slot. Without Warren to fill it, Franklin needed to take a swing on a proven player like Pena.
Pena ran nearly 80% of his snaps out of the slot last season, and his 63 receptions ranked 12th in the country and fifth amongst Power Four players. At times, Pena has struggled with drops, but those will come with such a high volume of targets. More often than not, he has reliable hands, and last season, he came down with 11 of his 14 contest catch opportunities from the slot.
In some ways, he could be the Tyler Warren replacement on jump balls and screens. Pena averaged 8.5 yards per reception on targets behind the line of scrimmage and 12.4 yards after the catch per reception. He can make defenders miss, and while he doesn’t have the best breakaway speed, he can certainly win a footrace if he has open field in front of him.
For two seasons, Allar has gone into every big game knowing that his receivers were going to be overmatched, and that’s led to some tentative play in the pocket and big-time mistakes downfield. Pena helps solve that problem, and between Hudson, Ross, Pena, and Penn State’s loaded tight end room, Allar can finally attack all three levels of the field consistently.
When Franklin added Allar in the 2022 recruiting class, many believed that an elite quarterback was the only thing holding the Nittany Lions back from a national championship. Then, the wide receiver play at a program that was once consistently churning out NFL prospects suddenly dried up, and Penn State is no closer to a title. Is that because Allar isn’t the prince who was promised as a five-star recruit? Or because he hasn’t had the right infrastructure to succeed?
Well, Franklin changed the offensive coordinator from Mike Yurcich to Andy Kotelnicki last offseason, then overhauled the wide receiver room this year. Now that Pena plugs the final hole on that side of the ball, Allar is out of excuses. This season, Penn State fans and NFL evaluators alike will finally get their answer on one of the most talented quarterbacks in the country.