Penn State football public practice news and notes

Manny Diaz has a defense expected to be among the best in the country this season at Penn State. The Nittany Lions, boasting incredible edge rushers, dynamic linebackers and a pair of excellent starting corners, are stacked.

Saturday night, Penn State opened the gates to the Lasch Football Complex to let fans see it. And they did, repeatedly, during a practice that stretched more than two rain-soaked hours.

Here, were diving into some of the immediate takeaways to emerge from the session:

Penn State public practice notes

– Landon Tengwall was again absent from the proceedings on Saturday evening. He was also a no-show for the program’s media day last Sunday and its subsequent practice in the evening. Penn State has not announced any details regarding his status at present or moving forward. J.B. Nelson, already poised to battle Tengwall for the starting left guard position, has been filling in with the starting offensive line.

– King Mack might have been the player of the night for Penn State on either side of the ball. The true freshman safety has made a splash at the onset of his career with the Nittany Lions, putting veterans in the room on notice as a likely contender for playing time this season. Saturday night, he was repeatedly involved in making tackles, heads-up plays, and even found himself in the mix with the kick return unit.

More impressions

– Not a sharp night for Penn State’s quarterbacks, though the rain was certainly a big factor in the disconnect. KeAndre Lambert-Smith demonstrated himself again to be a favorite target of Drew Allar and had some limited success. But, overwhelmingly, Allar, Beau Pribula, and Jaxon Smolik found themselves under duress or fighting to make plays that were rarely there. Even on-target passes were gobbled up by a defense that was playing fast and loose against an offense that just couldn’t be precise.

– One of the heavy participants Saturday night came as a little bit of a surprise. Complementing Trey Potts, Penn State true freshman London Montgomery got a ton of work in the rain. Though Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton each got some work in, with limited success given the circumstances, Montgomery’s appearance was partly a result of an apparent injury early in practice to Cam Wallace. Wallace had been in competition with Potts to win the third-string running back job this preseason.

Special teams notes

– Placekicking was a problem in live action on Saturday night, with Sander Sahaydak and Alex Felkins each off the mark. However, even in the driving rain later in practice, when they worked as a trio of Sahaydak, Felkins, and freshman Ryan Barker, all three had considerably more success until some of their long distance attempts.

– A first look at Penn State kick return confirmed what Stacy Collins has been saying all offseason. Singleton and Kaytron are still the top unit. The twos featured Daequan Hardy and Trey Potts, with King Mack and Elliott Washington running third.

– Kaden Saunders appears to be in position to potentially win the starting punt return job for Penn State. Others getting a shot there, in order, included Hardy, Zion Tracy, and Dante Cephas.

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