Who were the Penn State spring touchdown and takeaway kings?
Penn State football announced its spring award winners over the weekend as practices wrapped up with the 2025 Blue-White game. Blue-White Illustrated previously reported the first batch of winners. Offensive linemen Cooper Cousins and TJ Shanahan Jr., were the Red Worrell Award winners as the most improved players on offense. Safety Zakee Wheatley was the Jim O’Hora award winner as the most improved player on defense. Kickoff specialist Gabe Nwosu is the coaches special teams award winner. And, the Frank Fitzpatrick Total Commitment award went to Drew Allar, Zane Durant, and Dominic DeLuca. The next list of honors headlines today’s newsstand.
Each spring, Penn State picks its touchdown and takeaway kings. Unlike the other honors, these ones are data-driven. The Lions do not release the final totals. But, we now know that tight end Khalil Dinkins, running back Quinton Martin Jr., and receiver Lyrick Samuel found the end zone the most between March and April. Samuel added to his spring scoring total in the Blue-White game with a 40-yard touchdown reception.
As for the players with the most takeaways, defensive tackle Owen Wafle and safety Antoine Belgrave-Shorter led the way.
“It’s pretty good for me,” Belgrave-Shorter said when asked about playing in Jim Knowles’ defense. “You know, it’s an opportunity to make more tackles, get near the ball, showcase what I have. We run man in safety room, we blitz, we get down in the box. So, I like the versatility.
“We have a lot more studying to do, watching the film, building better chemistry during the summer, just getting better with our craft, our techniques, all those types of things to better our defense.”
Headlines of the day
Penn State’s Cooper Cousins is confident and ‘comfortable’ coming out of spring drills: Flounders, PennLive
Penn State Sunday situation: What are the Lions’ top priorities now?: Pickel, BWI
Why the 2026 NFL Draft Could Be One of Penn State’s Best Ever: Wogenrich, SI
BWI Photos: Top recruits at Penn State’s Blue-White Game: Snyder, BWI
The Biggest Gain in Penn State’s Passing Game on Blue-White Weekend? Getting Trebor Pena: Poorman, Statecollege.com
Top Penn State takeaways, things you missed, drive results, and more of what they’re saying about the Blue-White game: Pickel, BWI
Anthony Speca emerging as player, leader in thin Penn State LB room: Alenstein, Daily Collegian
Penn State UDFA roundup: Kimber, Izzard, Wormley, Fleming ink deals after 5 Lions go in NFL Draft: Pickel, BWI
Quote of the day
“It was a great visit. My family and I got the chance to spend one-on-one time with Coach Franklin. I like that he’s a straight-shooter. He talked to me about how I can get a great education with a huge network and play a high level of football. He told me that they really believe in developing the high school athletes and that’s important to me.”
2027 CB Ashton Alston to On3 about visiting PSU for the Blue-White game.
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