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Penn State of Mind: Takeaways from Media Day

The opening weekend of college football is less than 25 days away, and as the summer winds down and the fall approaches here in the Times News area, it’s time for us to once again delve into some Penn State football coverage. This past Sunday, the Nittany Lions held their annual Media Day program at Beaver Stadium, so let’s revisit what head coach James Franklin had to say (so far) about this season’s Penn State squad.

The preseason hype is real for the Nittany Lions as the first preseason rankings of the year just dropped - USA Today’s annual preseason college football coaches poll - which has Penn State ranked at No. 7. The Nittany Lions return a ton of talent from last season’s 11-2 team, but what seems to be the core strength of Penn State, at least at this point in time, is its depth in the trenches - both on the defensive and offensive line units.

Depth in those areas has certainly proven to hold the Nittany Lions back, even with some of their most talented teams - on the offensive side of the ball more than the defensive side. But going into this season, it figures to be a real strength.

The Nittany Lions return Olumuyiwa Fashanu, Landon Tengwall, Hunter Nourzad, Sal Wormley, Caedan Wallace and Drew Shelton up front on the offensive line. All of those players started last season, or saw significant time that could be likened to starter snaps. This is widely considered to be the most talented Penn State offensive line that Franklin has had in his tenure at PSU.

The defensive line could very well be the best in the country this season, especially from a pass rushing perspective, as the Lions return Chop Robinson, Adisa Isaac, Dani Dennis-Sutton, Dvon Ellies, Hakeem Beamon, Zane Durant and Amin Vanover.

“I think depth on the D-Line and depth on the O-Line, you know, is impressive. The amount of bodies, the amount of experience that I think are going to impact the team this year and have really good careers here at Penn State, I think that’s impressive,” said Franklin. “I would say the same thing at the tight end position. I’d say the same thing at the running back position. Those positions stand out. I’d say the same thing at corner.

“Having a three-deep across the board allows you to develop your entire roster when you feel like you’ve got legitimate guys to put out there, both physically and mentally.”

Of course, the big topic of conversation at Media Day - as it has been in any scenario when Coach Franklin takes to the podium since he signed on the dotted line for the Nittany Lions - was quarterback Drew Allar. The heralded five-star recruit now enters his sophomore season.

With Sean Clifford now in Green Bay, the consensus is that Allar will be Penn State’s QB No. 1. However, per usual Franklin-fashion, Penn State has yet to name Allar the starter, as Franklin always stresses that camp serves as competition for starting positions. Beau Pribula is expected to back-up Allar with true freshman Jaxon Smolik, serving as the third-string signal caller.

“You know, Allar and Beau Pribula obviously in Year 2. They look like guys that are Year 2 in the same system mentally. They look like guys Year 2 physically. They both have gotten stronger. They have both gotten leaner. They have both gotten faster. They have gotten more confident with their reads, their accuracy, their decision-making, those types of things,” said Franklin.

“In terms of decisions, you know, we are not announcing or making any decisions at this point, really, at any position. It’s a competition, and we want to create competition at every position as long as possible, and I think it brings the best out in everyone. As you guys know, that’s really kind of how we have operated here for 10 years.”

News also broke over the weekend that Oregon and Washington will be joining the Big Ten next season, making four PAC-12 teams now coming over to the Big Ten as the Ducks and Huskies join USC and UCLA to make the Big Ten Conference an 18-team superpower starting in 2024.

“I will say that my focus, and obviously this press conference, is about specifically our football team and getting ready for West Virginia and getting ready for the Big Ten Conference. I do think, obviously, with what you see that’s going on in college football right now, it’s not shocking that these things are kind of happening. It’s somewhat sad in some ways, not that these people are being added to our conference because I think obviously there’s a lot of strategy that goes into that,” said Franklin.

“But you know, I do think there’s some challenges that come along with it and it’s just very different for most of the people in this room, it’s very different than the college football that we all grew up with, not really college football, college athletics, where at least for most of the year it was pretty regional. I do think it’s a huge win for USC and UCLA from a travel perspective. I think it’s a huge win for them.”

Penn State head coach James Franklin speaks during an NCAA college football news conference at the Big Ten Conference media days at Lucas Oil Stadium, Wednesday, July 26, 2023, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)