Ex-Penn State wide receiver to redshirt for rest of the season at new program

Former Penn State and current Arizona State wide receiver Malik McClain will sit out for the remainder of the 2024 season, redshirting for the Sun Devils’ final eight regular season games. The current expectation is for the former Nittany Lion, who transferred from Happy Valley to Tempe this offseason, to remain with the Sun Devils for 2025.

“Obviously, he came in late in this process, and he’s a really good player, but he has a year left, and he’s still learning the system, and he missed some in the summer for a variety of reasons, going back home and stuff like that,” Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham said Monday. “So, we didn’t feel like we were doing him justice [by] playing him eight snaps, 12 snaps a game as he was getting back into it for his final year.

“Does that hurt us a little bit this year? One hundred percent. I mean, he was a really, really good depth guy… But for him personally, I definitely think, and for us in the future, I definitely think it’s a win-win for him and for us to get him back.”

Malik McClain entered the transfer portal on May 2, one of three wide receivers to depart the Penn State football program following spring practice. He spent one season with the Nittany Lions, recording six catches for 71 yards and a touchdown.

McClain previously played for Florida State, where he posted 33 receptions for 396 yards and five touchdowns.

James Franklin pleased, but not satisfied with Penn State football’s wide receiver production in 2024

© Grace Carella / Basic Blues Nation, 2024.

Malik McClain was part of a wide receiver room that underwhelmed and underproduced for the Nittany Lions a season ago. Now five games into 2024, Penn State football has seen a noticeable improvement at the position.

Coming into the year, the Nittany Lions only had one receiver on the roster with more than 600 yards in their career, Julian Fleming, who accomplished the feat at Ohio State.

Andy Kotelnicki’s new offense has three receivers with over 150 yards and two with over 220 yards on the season so far. The unit seems to have solved its explosive play problem in the passing game, with all receivers averaging at least 13 yards a reception.

Harrison Wallace, Omari Evans, Liam Clifford, and Julian Fleming have all but two of the room’s catches this season and 39 of the Nittany Lions’ 64 total receptions.

“Our wide receivers, I really feel like they are developing and have really had a nice year so far,” James Franklin said on Monday. “I think, as you guys know better than me, that was a big question mark going into the season and a lot of discussion.

“I think if somebody would tell you before the season kind of where we were at the wide receiver position currently and you knew that before the season, people, I think, would be overall pleased, but not satisfied. We still want to develop that area, and I think we’re going to need to develop that area as the season goes on.”

Penn State’s receivers will likely need to rise to the occasion this weekend, facing a USC passing attack that is one of the best in the nation and prone to put up points. Kickoff between the Nittany Lions and Trojans is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.

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