Meet No. 6 Penn State’s Swiss Army Knife: Trey Potts

In its 41-13 road victory over Northwestern, No. 6 Penn State found itself another dual-threat running back to rely on headed into the back half of the season.

Born and raised in Williamsport, PA, running back Trey Potts attended Williamsport High School, where he rushed for 3,490 yards and 59 touchdowns in 31 games. That stat line awarded him a three-star consensus across college football to earn him a roster spot at Minnesota.

Through four seasons with the Golden Gophers, Potts was named Academic All-Big Ten three times while he received 239 carries for 1,198 yards and 11 scores.

Despite the success in the midwest, Potts hit the transfer portal after the 2022 season, where he found a new home in Happy Valley.

The redshirt senior started off the year third on the depth chart where he got valuable reps late in games with Penn State up big. That all changed against Northwestern on Saturday where Potts got his chance to shine in a close contest.

“For me, I’ve been in that position before. I’ve played a lot of college football,” Potts said. “I prepare like a starter week in and week out in practice, so when my number was called, I was prepared.”

After Kaytron Allen was taken out of the game due to an injury, Potts came in for one play in the second quarter, which he took for a 13-yard touchdown to tie the game at 10 a piece.

“Trey stepped up big time, he’s that type of player,” Nicholas Singleton said of Potts coming in for Allen early in the game. “We were talking in the locker room after the game. He’s waiting for nobody. He’s going to come in, step up and make an impact on the team.”

Potts’ electric touchdown sparked the Nittany Lions offense to score 24 points unanswered after a slow start and take a 27-10 lead entering the fourth quarter.

“We talked about adversity last night, as a team and as a unit we handled it well,” Potts said. “I just stick to what I learned in the past and keep building on that.”

On Penn State’s final drive, Beau Pribula connected with Potts up the middle for a 30-yard receiving touchdown and walked away with another Big Ten win.

Potts’ diversity in the pass and run game solidified strength and conditioning coach Chuck Losey’s nickname for the senior running back.

“Swiss Army Knife, and I think that’s my role right now,” Potts said of his nickname. “Any way I can help this team win, I’ll use my athletic ability to do that. It feels good to get a win today.”

The “Swiss Army Knife” nickname couldn’t be fitting for Potts as he has three touchdowns on the season in three different ways. The senior ran and received a touchdown on Saturday but also threw for an 11-yard touchdown to Tyler Warren against Illinois a few weeks ago.

Potts is just one of four Big Ten running backs this century to throw, run and receive a touchdown in their first five games of a season.

“Transferred in here as a senior didn’t get a whole lot of reps or burn the first couple of games but kept a great attitude,” head coach James Franklin said. “When he got opportunities, he maximized them. It was great to see him be able to come in and know that we have three backs to win in this league.”

Headed into its bye week 5-0, Penn State will take some much-needed time to rest and continue to improve with a significant road game against No. 4 Ohio State right around the corner.

“Obviously we have to get some guys healthy and things like that so, just keeping our head down and keeping working we got a lot of goals for the season,” Potts said.

Micheal Bolger is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him please email mpb6233@psu.edu.