Here’s how Penn State is preparing for another opener on the road — and other media day notes
A crucial season in the James Franklin era is less than one month away now that Penn State has opened full camp — and the Nittany Lions aren’t taking it lightly.
Penn State opens its season on the road later this month against a West Virginia team that finished 2023 strong and returns an experienced — and dynamic — quarterback. Those difficult season starts aren’t too far out of the ordinary for a Nittany Lion team that has opened the season on the road in four of the last five seasons.
Franklin said the program will draw on some of those experiences as they build toward their Aug. 31 debut in Morgantown, such as looking back on the 2022 matchup against Purdue.
“Purdue was a great example going on the road,” Franklin said at Saturday’s media day press conference. “We’ve done a few of these things before; I think has been helpful for us, and I think it gets everybody’s kind of attention.”
Leadership could remain somewhat of a question mark heading into camp. Franklin has yet to announce who his team’s captains will be — something he said isn’t out of the ordinary — and said the plan is to put that information out in the coming weeks.
Quarterback Drew Allar would be a prime candidate to be a captain as a second-year starter at the most important position on the field. But the leadership won’t end at the captains if Franklin has his way, though. The Nittany Lions will rely on a myriad of players to keep their teammates accountable and keep things on track as they try to make the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history.
“I see this team being more vocal,” Franklin said. “I see these guys being more vocal in challenging their teammates. Holding their teammates accountable. I think those things have been pretty evident in the summer workouts and so far in camp.”
Reloading at cornerback
Losing three starting cornerbacks would leave any secondary in a state of disrepair, but Penn State isn’t just looking to replace Kalen King, Johnny Dixon and Daequan Hardy — they’re looking at being better in some regards.
“We actually feel like that position from top to bottom could be better this year athletically,” Franklin said. “...They still have to do it on game day, and obviously when you have lost the amount of production that we lost at that position, we understand that. But in terms of, I’d say seven guys that went through spring ball and went through summer and now are in training camp, we feel really good about those seven guys, and specifically, six guys, three deep on either side.”
The depth at the position is apparent, with Franklin rattling off a list of corners — Cam Miller, Audavion Collins, Jalen Kimber, A.J. Harris, Zion Tracy and Elliot Washington II — the team currently trusts to take the field. That is a far cry from where the group was following the season.
Defensive coordinator Tom Allen, who was hired in December, said it was one of the spots the team was concerned about. But after adding transfers in Kimber and Harris, and watching the returning players develop, he’s confident it won’t be an issue this season for the Nittany Lions.
“I knew we had some talented young players,” Allen said. “I just didn’t know how they’d develop. So that became a major focus. We brought in two transfers mid-year that turned out to be tremendous assets to our program in so many different ways. So that room has turned a question mark into one of our strengths on the whole defense.”
The depth is a key part of that equation with how Allen wants to run his secondary. The defensive coordinator knows the unit will be facing plenty of looks that will require the Nittany Lions to keep their players fresh and have enough corners to rotate in for significant snaps.
“I love having that depth there,” Allen said. “You think about the way the game is played now, and the way we want to be able to play guys that can cover and do multiple things, so depth at that position is critical. And I’m a big believer in playing lots of guys. I’ve been that way my whole career. I want to have a good rotation so you’re able to be at your very best at the end of the game.”
Building defensive end depth
Penn State’s defensive end room may have two of the best edge rushers in the country in Abdul Carter and Dani Dennis-Sutton, but it’s not just the top of the depth chart that Franklin has confidence in. The players who will back Carter and Dennis-Sutton up have given the head coach reason to have faith that the team won’t miss a beat when they take the field.
“(Amin) Vanover is a guy that I don’t think enough people are talking about. We have a ton of confidence in Amin,” Franklin said. “And I think the other guy that — and I get why but — a lot of people aren’t talking about is Smith Vilbert. Smith Vilbert is a guy that we have a lot of confidence in as an organization and as a program. He’s missed, obviously, a lot of football, so you guys haven’t had a chance to see him the way we have. But you talk about big, strong, physical experienced mature.”
The defensive end room has changed in the past couple weeks, with sophomore Jameial Lyons no longer a part of the roster or the university and former 2025 commit Max Granville enrolling a year in advance. Not to mention, Zuriah Fisher is slated to miss time due to a significant injury he suffered during the spring.
That leaves Vanover and Vilbert as the primary backups, but also leaves room for players like Granville and redshirt freshman Mason Robinson to take a step forward.
Franklin said he’s already seen some of the attributes from Granville that had the program excited to add him.
“He’s already flashed in the first two days,” Franklin said. “Athletic, quick, a lot of things you saw on the high school tape but you don’t know if those things are going to show up when they get here. But that’s already happened.”
Anyone stepping up as a third defensive end would be important for the Nittany Lion defense, especially because Carter will split time between defensive end and linebacker this year.
That decision which Franklin discussed at Big Ten Media Days in late July, will be made on a week-to-week basis for Allen to optimize his gameplan. Allen, speaking publicly about the decision for the first time, said the thought behind Carter moving around is centered on maximizing one of the team’s best difference-makers.
“He’s a difference-maker type guy,” Allen said. “So you want him to be able to have multiple skill sets that he can impact the game at different positions.”
Quick hitters
- Kaveion Keys and Jameial Lyons are no longer on the roster and are no longer enrolled at the university, a decision the program declined to comment on further.
- Saturday was the program’s first practice in pads this spring.
- When it comes to the players who will wear helmets able to communicate with coaches on the sideline, Allen said the team’s MLB will be the designated player on defense, while offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki said Allar will wear it on offense.
