The Pinstripe Bowl is always a fun game played at Yankee Stadium. Winter weather in New York, unstable turf, and playing on the home field of the New York Yankees often lead to unusual outcomes. The game this year could have easily been branded as the Disappointment Bowl, as both teams fell woefully short of expectations.

Also disappointing in this game is the number of opt-outs from both teams, as the prime prospects, many who played worse in 2025 than the prior season, have chosen to skip the contest and start preparation for the NFL Draft.

As of posting, the players opting out for Penn State include guard Olaivavega Ioane, defensive tackle Zane Durant, running back Nick Singleton, and safety Zakee Wheatley. For Clemson, defensive tackle Peter Woods, edge rusher T.J. Parker, cornerback Avieon Terrell, and receiver Antonio Williams, all juniors entering the draft, have opted out. So too has senior defensive tackle DeMonte Capehart.

Considering how poorly Capehart has played the past two seasons, as well as Nick Singleton’s woeful senior campaign, one must wonder why they are not choosing to play in this game. Singleton was rated much higher than teammate Kaytron Allen entering the season, but finished with just 549 yards, the worst of his college career, and less than half the production from one year ago. Capehart has just had a single sack in the past two seasons. Clemson safety Khalil Barnes, who really improved his game this season, entered the transfer portal and won’t be on the field.

Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik is expected to play. Entering the season, many believed he would battle to be a top-25 pick after his 2024 campaign, yet Klubnik had a terrible start to the season and never rebounded. He’s not a big-armed, athletic passer and must rely on his vision and brains to make plays, yet Klubnik made a lot of bad passes and poor decisions throughout the schedule this year. Klubnik’s passing production went from 3639 yards and 36 TDs in 2024 to 2750 and 16 TDs this season.

Against Penn State, he’ll be challenged by a pair of talented cornerbacks, A.J. Harris and Zion Tracy. Harris is a bigger, physical corner who can play press coverage and may even get some consideration as a safety in the NFL. Tracy, on the other hand, is a smaller nickel back who is very effective over the slot receiver. Assuming he plays, Dani Dennis-Sutton has an opportunity to terrorize Klubnik.

Dennis-Sutton’s play this season epitomized Penn State. Considered a possible top-60 pick before the year, he was spotty on his best days. Dennis-Sutton is a tall, athletic edge rusher who is best in a four-man front. He’s fast off the edge and can pursue the action to the flanks or play in space. Yet he never really pulled it together after a terrific finish to the 2024 season.

Dennis-Sutton’s play in 2025 has frustrated scouts. He went from 42 tackles, 13 TFLs, and 8.5 sacks a year ago to 38/10/6.5 this season. Some contend Dennis-Sutton benefited from playing with Abdul Carter, the third pick of the 2024 draft, last year. Scouts believe he doesn’t consistently play with a high-revving motor, and it’s going to cost him on draft weekend.

Trying to slow down Dennis-Sutton will be Clemson’s offensive tackles, who both saw their play regress last season. Blake Miller is a strong right-tackle prospect with excellent size, while Tristan Leigh is usually a nimble, agile, pass-protecting left tackle. After both had good seasons in 2023 and 2024 when they improved their games, Miller and Leigh saw their momentum halted and struggled throughout the year.