Tony Rojas’ case for national recognition got a big boost Thursday afternoon.
The Penn State linebacker was named one of 15 semifinalists for the Butkus Award, given each year to the country’s top linebacker. Rojas has built a strong resume to this point, and the numbers back it up: he leads Penn State with 55 tackles and 10.5 tackles for loss, and his five sacks are tied for fifth in the Big Ten.
He’s also been on a tear lately. Rojas has reached double digits in tackles in each of Penn State’s last three games, piling up 12 against Northwestern, 10 against USC and 12 more against Michigan.
He has shown he can impact the game in other ways, too, including an interception at Temple. He also had a key pick against SMU in the 2024 College Football Playoff.
Penn State’s history with the Butkus Award gives the honor extra weight inside the program. The Nittany Lions are one of eight schools with multiple winners.
LaVar Arrington became the first Penn State player to take home the award in 1999, followed by Paul Pozluszny in 2005. Even with plenty of standout linebackers coming through Happy Valley in the years since - including Dan Connor, Penn State’s all-time leading tackler and now the linebackers coach, along with Tyson Veidt - Pozluszny remains the most recent PSU player to win it.
The award itself only dates back to 1985, which means some of Penn State’s all-time greats - Jack Ham, Greg Buttle and Matt Millen - were never eligible for it.
D’Anton Lynn knows elite linebacker play when he sees it. The Penn State defensive coordinator played alongside Sean Lee and NaVorro Bowman in college, and he didn’t hold back when talking about Rojas on Tuesday.
“Not just talking about Penn State, but just in general,” Lynn told reporters Tuesday. “You watch him do drills.
You watch him do anything in space. He’s fluid, he’s fast, he’s explosive.
Tony’s had a great first half.”
Lynn also thinks Rojas can still push his game higher as Penn State moves into the final stretch of the regular season and beyond.
“All those guys, they did it every single day,” Lynn said, “they did it every single week, and so far Tony’s done that. “It’s just continuing to do that through the second half (of the season). There’s still another level that I think he can reach, and we’re hoping that we can get him to do that in the next couple weeks.”
Rojas echoed that view when he spoke with reporters Tuesday, saying he knows there’s more to clean up.
“I’ve been playing at a good level,” Rojas told reporters Tuesday. “I’m kind of hard on myself, so I know I have a lot to improve on, a lot of things to work on.
So during the bye week and going forward, just watching film. I know I could be better at things like just getting off blocks against the line.
That starts with being intentional with that in practice.”
In Other News...
Penn States 2027 QB Search Just Got More Interesting
Penn States quarterback work in the Class of 2027 has already taken a turn, with Will Wood flipping his commitment to Boston College and leaving the Nittany Lions back in the market. The move adds another layer to a position group the staff is still actively sorting through, and it puts even more attention on how Penn State plans to shape that class moving forward.
One of the names now in the mix is Ben Rolapp, a Boston College commit who has drawn multiple offers and followed up a strong 2025 season with a growing recruiting profile. Penn States offer to Rolapp makes the picture a little more complicated, and it underscores how the Nittany Lions are continuing to chase quarterback options even as the board keeps shifting around them. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Faces Real Pressure As Offensive Concerns Keep Growing
Penn State gets Purdue at Beaver Stadium in a spot where the backdrop matters as much as the matchup. The Nittany Lions are carrying a four-game Big Ten losing streak, while Purdue arrives with an 11-game skid against Penn State, and that contrast alone says plenty about where both programs are headed entering the weekend. Barry Odom has already been talking about getting his team ready for the noise and pressure of one of the leagues tougher road environments, which only adds to the sense that this is a game Penn State has to handle with a little more purpose than it has shown lately.
Offensively, the bigger question is whether the Nittany Lions can start looking more like themselves again. Rocco Becht has battled turnover issues, but there is still expectation around him to settle in and clean things up, and there is some added hope at receiver with Koby Howard potentially back after missing four games. For a team trying to stop a slide and restore confidence, those are the kinds of pieces that matter, even if the broader problems have been too stubborn to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State May Need Arrington Back Sooner Than Fans Expected
Penn State has spent much of the season trying to piece together its edge-rusher rotation, and the latest availability report only underscored how thin that room can get. LaVar Arrington II was sidelined for the first seven games after knee surgery, and with Max Granville already out for the year, the staff has had to keep sorting through a group that also includes young players such as Alexander McPherson and Yvan Kemajou.
Against Purdue in Week 9, Arrington was absent from the availability report, a small but notable development for a defense still managing multiple injuries and a crowded injury list overall. For Penn State, the question is no longer just when Arrington gets back, but how quickly the Nittany Lions need him once he does, given the way the depth chart has been tested at one of the most demanding spots on the field. [Read more 🡒]