Penn State, following the lead of recent national champions and former Big Ten East members Michigan and Ohio State, went all in on 2025, returning a bulk of their starting players for one more run after coming so close in 2024.
One such player is Nick Dawkins, who isn’t as heralded as the other names that instantly come up when the “running it back” conversation comes up, but nonetheless indispensable to the Nittany Lions’ success.
Dawkins, like most linemen, redshirted his freshman season. And, given the circumstances —it was 2020, after all, it probably was for the best at the time.