Penn State’s James Franklin optimistic about PJ Mustipher's health, talks about depth at QB at Big Ten Media Days

INDIANAPOLIS — Penn State’s James Franklin, now in his ninth season, used part of his opening press conference at Big Ten Media Days to break down some of the strengths of the Nittany Lions entering training camp.

Franklin is also aware of the significant challenge facing Penn State in the season opener. The Lions travel to West Lafayette on Sept. 1 to face Jeff Brohm’s Purdue Boilermakers in a Thursday night game on FOX.

“We’re going to blink and we’re going to be getting on a plane to travel to Purdue,” Franklin said Wednesday afternoon from inside Lucas Oil Stadium.

“We open the season on the road at Purdue Thursday night, national television. I think the game is a blackout. Got a tremendous respect for Coach Brohm. Got tremendous respect for Purdue University and what they’ve been able to do in night games and specifically blackout games. So that will be a tremendous challenge to open the season.”

Here are some of the other takeaways from Franklin’s early news conference.

Mustipher is ready to go

Veteran defensive lineman PJ Mustipher, now in his fifth year, had his 2021 season cut short due to a serious leg injury in the Lions’ sixth game, a narrow loss at Iowa. Still, Mustipher was a second-team All-Big Ten choice, a good indicator of just how well PJ played in the middle of the Lions’ defense.

“A lot of people talk about the game of football,” Franklin said.

“You want to be strong up the middle, very similar to baseball and having a nose guard like PJ Mustipher to set the tone is really, really important. He’s back and excited and ready to go.”

Franklin added of Mustipher: “He’s in great spirits. He feels both mentally and physically 100% back because I think that’s a big part of this, right? As well as not just the physical aspect of it, it’s the mental aspect of it as well.”

Lions’ QB room has never been deeper

Sixth-year Lion Sean Clifford is set at PSU’s starting quarterback if he is healthy. Behind him are three gifted throwers — redshirt freshman Christian Veilleux and true freshmen Drew Allar and Beau Pribula.

Pribula and Allar, a five-star recruit from Ohio, enrolled early to take part in spring drills.

“You look at the quarterback position, obviously returning an experienced player at the quarterback position, a starter, a guy who’s been a captain for three years,” said Franklin, referring to Clifford.

“But this year our depth at the quarterback position, with four quarterbacks that we feel very, very strong about, we feel great about the competition in that room.”

Franklin impressed with Robinson’s mindset

Penn State’s defensive end room will be led by veterans Nick Tarburton and Adisa Isaac. The latter missed 2021 with an Achilles injury.

The Lions also welcome two major talents to the practice field in August — five-star recruit Dani Dennis-Sutton and Maryland transfer Chop Robinson, who is in his second year at the college level.

“Chop Robinson is a young man we recruited out of high school, so knew him and his family extremely well,” Franklin said.

“I think that helps us. We’re typically a program, when it comes to the transfer portal, we would rather be in a situation of being involved with a young man that we already have a pre-existing relationship through the recruiting process out of high school. I think that’s helpful.”

“Obviously he’s got a chance to come in and make an impact,” Franklin continued.

“He’s come in and tested extremely well, very athletic, as a guy who’s all about ball, which I love. I think he’s got a chance to be a high-production, low-maintenance guy, which is what we want.”