What We Learned From Penn State's James Franklin at Big Ten Media Days
Penn State coach James Franklin chose not to sing the preseason praises of his offensive line at Big Ten Media Days, allowing the group to demonstrate its development this season. But Franklin did have plenty of good news regarding defensive tackle PJ Mustipher, who is "100 percent" entering the 2022 season.
The Nittany Lions report for training camp Sunday as they begin preparations for the Sept. 1 opener at Purdue. Before that, Franklin discussed his team at Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis. Here are the top takeaways.
PJ Mustipher is ready to go
On Tuesday, Penn State's media days contingent had dinner at the famous St. Elmo Steak House in Indianapolis. Mustipher celebrated passing his final Penn State conditioning tests with a huge steak, twin lobster tails and the restaurant's noteworthy shrimp cocktail.
"He crushed it all," Franklin said.
That's the kind of appetite Mustipher will bring back to Penn State's defensive line. Despite playing just five games in 2021, Mustipher was a second-team All-Big Ten selection whose sesaon-ending injury at Iowa disrupted the defense.
Mustipher was not cleared for spring drills but now feels both "mentally and physically 100 percent back," Franklin said at Lucas Oil Stadium. A healthy Mustipher is among the top noseguards in the Big Ten.
"We are blessed and fortunate to have PJ back as a leader of our defense," Franklin said, "and I think you'll see big things out of him this year."
Downplaying the offensive line
Franklin has said before that his offensive line would be a team strength. He mentioned it last season. And then, Penn State's offense finished with the second-lowest per-game rushing average in school history (108).
So Franklin was reticent to herald this year's group prematurely.
"Offensive line is the group that we come and talk about every single year, and I tell you this is going to be the year for the next step at that position," Franklin said. "I’m not going do that this year. I’m going to let them prove that to you on the field. But I’ve been very, very pleased with that unit and the depth we have created."
Depth is an asset
Though Penn State has a relatively young roster, Franklin believes it's deep. He attributed that to consecutive highly ranked recruiting classes and some well placed transfers, notably with defensive end Chop Robinson and offensive lineman Hunter Nourzad.
Further, depth has improved considerably at quarterback, where Penn State has returning experience with Christian Veilleux and a pair of true freshmen in Drew Allar and Beau Pribula backing starter Sean Clifford.
"What we’ve been able to evaluate since [the new players] have been on campus is, there’s probably a larger number of those young men who will feel like are going to be able to impact our program and our organization earlier in their careers than our normal recruiting classes," Franklin said.
No comment on players discussing organizing efforts
Clifford led teammates in a meeting with representatives of the College Football Players Association about starting a chapter at Penn State. What results from that meeting remains to be seen, and Franklin said he would not discuss details of internal conversations regarding it.
Franklin did note that he's "very, very proud of the relationships we have with our players at Penn State."
"To me that’s the nature of college athletics and college football right now, that you’d better be willing to have discussions that maybe we haven’t had in the past," Franklin said. "There’s been more changes in college football over the last 3 years than probably the previous 25. Those are great discussions and dialogues."
Clifford, meanwhile, told reporters that he wants to help future college athletes but would not get into specifics as well.
Read More
The Nittany Lions held a players-only meeting with the College Football Players Association
News and notes from Big Ten Media Days
The Penn State preseason awards watch list
AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich. And consider subscribing (button's on the home page) for more great content across the SI.com network.
