Penn State football: Future Nittany Lions QB-WR duo already forming on-field chemistry

State College was crawling with past, present, future, and potential Nittany Lions this weekend with the Elite 11 regional in town. While the action took place across town from Beaver Stadium, we got to see a connection that could be coming to the steel behemoth very soon.  Although separated by over 1,000 miles, 2025 Penn State football commits Bekkem Kritza and Lyrick Samuel already seem to be forming an on-field connection. 

Bekkem Samuel-Lyrick Samuel connection shows potential peek into the future at Elite 11 regional

By rolling into Happy Valley on Sunday, the Elite 11 and All 22 regional handed James Franklin and Penn State football a valuable recruiting tool, bringing many of the top prospects from the East Coast to State College for the weekend.

While several of the Nittany Lions’ commits from the 2025 recruiting class were in attendance, quarterback Bekkem Kritza and wide receiver Lyrick Samuel repeatedly popped up. The pair seem to be developing on-field chemistry despite being separated by the entire Eastern Seaboard. 

Just the start Bekkem Kritza to Lyrick Samuel. @PennStateFball @coachmhagans @coachjfranklin https://t.co/DwNadmz4rj

— Lyrick Samuel (@IamLyrickSamuel) May 20, 2024

Transferring back to Miami Central this offseason, Bekkem Kritza is a three-star in the On3 Industry Rankings. Joining the class in November, Kritza passed for over 1,700 yards and 20 touchdowns in a shortened six-game season for Fairview (Colorado) in 2023.

Committing to the Nittany Lions in January, Lyrick Samuel is currently the only wide receiver Penn State football has in the 2025 recruiting cycle. Like Kritza, Samuel is also a three-star, but that may change if he continues to impress on the camp circuit like he has of late. Samuel hauled in 27 passes for 693 yards and 11 touchdowns for Erasmus Hall (New York) last year.

The pair seem fairly confident that connections like we saw Sunday will become a common occurrence for the Nittany Lion faithful in the years to come.

Penn State football commit visits SEC program

While Penn State football had many of its future players in State College, one Nittany Lion commit spent the weekend on another school’s campus. 

On Saturday, Jeffery Lee of On3 reported that Penn State commit Alvin Henderson was visiting the Auburn Tigers. Henderson is the No. 8 running back in the 2025 recruiting cycle in both the On3 and 247Sports aggregated rankings. 

The timing of Henderson’s commitment was somewhat odd, pledging to the Nittany Lions days after his first and only visit to Happy Valley in early April. Henderson lives less than two hours from Auburn, so the Tigers figured to play a major role in his recruitment, even after his commitment. 

Currently, the 2025 commit is set to take his official visit to Penn State on June 14. While he doesn’t have a visit to Auburn on the books yet, On3 does register a trip to Miami scheduled for June 21. 

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