Marques Hagans knew it just as well as James Franklin and Pat Kraft. Changes needed to be made within Penn State’s wide receiver corps this offseason. And the Nittany Lions responded boldly.
First came the additions of the USC’s Kyron Hudson and Troy’s Devonte Ross. And then, in the spring, came the big splash — Trebor Pena.
The 5-foot-10, 185-pound Pena was widely considered the top overall wide receiver in the spring transfer portal window. He was an All-ACC honoree after hauling in 941 yards and nine touchdowns for Syracuse last season. Pena was the type of speedy, experienced target Drew Allar had lacked over two seasons as Penn State’s starting quarterback.
The anticipation is that Pena, alongside Hudson and Ross, will transform the Nittany Lions’ offense, pushing the program toward a national championship in 2025. He was a player Franklin felt he just had to have. And so far, through workouts on campus, Pena is meeting his high expectations.
“I think the first thing is right away you notice the production. As soon as you hear he’s going into the portal, you see the production. And production matters,” Franklin said last week. “I think also the fact he’s a sixth-year guy. And I look at college football a little bit like college basketball, maybe a few years back, where I think part of a winning formula or a championship formula is also being a mature team.”
That level of production hasn’t quite been there for any Penn State wide receiver since Parker Washington and Mitchell Tinsley paired up as a dynamic duo in 2022. Hagans was brought in as wide receivers coach for the following season, but after two years, his room has struggled to provide Allar with a group capable of being consistent difference makers.
Allar failed to complete a single reception to a wide receiver in Penn State’s 27-24 loss to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinals, and starters Harrison Wallace III and Omari Evans transferred thereafter. Pena, Hudson and Ross have become their replacements, revamping a position room that desperately needs to take a step forward.
“Recruiting is very simple. My job is to find the best guys in the country, replace the guys in the seats. Their job is to ensure that it doesn’t happen,” Hagans said. “And when that all comes together, all it does is create a healthy room of competition. And I think that’s what’s happened with the guys that we brought in this year.
“The guys have embraced it; the guys that have come in have embraced the guys that are already here. And so far, it’s been a good match, and hopefully that continues to grow.”
The weapons are there for Andy Kotelnicki to piece together a title-winning formula in his second season as the Nittany Lions’ offensive coordinator. Allar is back, as are running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, as well as four of five starters from last season’s offensive line.
The idea is that Pena becomes the dynamic playmaker Penn State has searched for over the previous two seasons. And while some time remains before the start of fall training camp, Pena has done about all he can to convince his peers that he can be just that.
“What I really appreciate is that who he was in the recruiting process was very transparent and authentic, and he’s proven to be that since he’s been here,” Kotelnicki said. “The work ethic, the desire to do whatever it takes to play and help win, the hunger to learn the playbook right away. All these things that we thought would be the case and the recruiting process have proven to be true.”
