Penn State fans got a jolt Thursday when a familiar name surfaced on an NFL transaction report: Kaytron Allen has been waived by the Washington Commanders in the middle of his rookie season.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the move Thursday afternoon, cutting short what had been a promising start to Allen’s first pro year. The news landed with extra sting because Allen is hardly some ordinary former Nittany Lion. He left Penn State as the program’s all-time leading rusher, and he did it while sharing the backfield with Nicholas Singleton.
Allen’s final college season made the case for why that label fits. In 2025, he posted the best statistical year of his career, finishing with 1,303 yards and 15 touchdowns while averaging 6.2 yards per carry.
And when Penn State’s season drifted off course after opening with national title expectations, Allen didn’t fade with it. He kept building, topping 100 yards in each of the final six games.
That production helped get him to Washington as a sixth-round pick in this year’s draft. He survived training camp, made the roster, and played in each of the Commanders’ first four games. Over that stretch, he totaled 41 yards on 12 carries.
Allen is only 23, which leaves plenty of runway ahead of him, and there’s a good chance his name comes back into the conversation later this season.
For Penn State, the timing of the news only adds to the frustration around a team that could use his kind of punch right now. The Nittany Lions are 3-2 after dropping their first two Big Ten games. The offense hasn’t found its footing on the ground or through the air, averaging just 2.2 yards per carry against Northwestern and struggling to throw the ball through two conference games.
Penn State’s annual White Out Game is set for this weekend against USC, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 on NBC.
In Other News...
Nebraska's New-Look Roster Already Faces A Big Ten Readiness Test
Nebraskas revamped mens basketball roster got its first real look in an exhibition against St. Louis, and the night offered a useful reminder of how much the Cornhuskers still have to figure out before Big Ten play arrives. With eight newcomers joining seven returnees, the mix was still taking shape, even as freshman Jacob Lanier led Nebraska with 15 points in a 79-74 loss that gave Fred Hoiberg an early baseline for where his team stands.
The stat sheet was close enough to suggest the Huskers can compete, with both teams grabbing 41 rebounds, but Hoiberg said afterward that Nebraska was out-toughed. That kind of edge is exactly what exhibition games are supposed to expose, and for a roster built almost from scratch, the challenge now is turning individual promise into the kind of physical, connected play that travels in conference games. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraska Let Another Big Opportunity Slip Away Under Matt Rhule
Nebraska had another chance to turn a promising moment into something bigger Saturday, and again the chance slipped away. The Cornhuskers fell to No. 7 Indiana, 20-17, in a game that fit too neatly into a familiar pattern for a program still trying to climb back into the national conversation. The loss extended Nebraskas losing streak against top-25 opponents to 31 games, a run that underscores how hard it has been for the Huskers to cash in when the opponent is at its best.
For Matt Rhule, the frustration is starting to take on a historical edge. Nebraska has not beaten a top-seven team since 2015, and Rhule is still searching for his first win over a ranked opponent since arriving in Lincoln. The broader story around this team remains the same: competitive enough to stay in the fight, but not yet able to land the kind of signature victory that changes how the season is viewed. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraska Let Another Winnable Game Slip Away Under Matt Rhule
Nebraska had a real chance to leave Indiana with a result that would have felt like a statement, but the Cornhuskers let a winnable game slip away in a tight contest decided by a handful of fourth-quarter plays. The loss also snapped Indianas 22-game winning streak, a reminder that this was not some throwaway opponent or empty Saturday, but the kind of game Nebraska has to be able to finish if it wants to keep building under Matt Rhule.
Instead, the late moments belonged to Indiana, and Nebraska again found itself on the wrong side of a one-score game. It is the sort of defeat that lingers because the opportunity was there, the margin was thin, and the details in the final period made all the difference, leaving the Cornhuskers with another frustrating lesson about how small the gap is between progress and disappointment. [Read more 🡒]