Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1492675
M A R C H 2 0 2 3 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M T he first loss of the season is a mo- ment all but assured for virtually every team in college football every season, but it arrived in particularly brutal fashion for Penn State last fall. Bringing a 5-0 record into their showdown against Michigan in Ann Arbor, the Nittany Lions spent the af- ternoon of Oct. 15 on the receiving end of an all-encompassing beatdown. The score was 41-17 in favor of the Wol- verines, an outcome that was never in doubt. It was a bleak moment for the team, but the minutes, hours and days im- mediately following the final whistle at the Big House had everything to do with Penn State's eventual 11-2 finish and Rose Bowl victory. The Lions were determined to avoid the cascade of disappointments that marred the 2020 and '21 seasons after their first loss, and there was a key difference that gave them hope of doing so. In a reversal from the season prior, senior defensive tackle PJ Mustipher was right where he was needed: in the middle of it all. Credited with setting the tone for the team's bounce-back 45-17 win over Minnesota the next week, the Nit- tany Lions' unflappable veteran was a leader, through and through. He hadn't been in position to fill that role in 2021, having suffered a season-ending injury in the team's loss at Iowa. But Mustipher was able to do so this time, and he wasn't the only captain to meet the moment. Quarterback Sean Clifford, safety Ji'Ayir Brown, center Juice Scruggs, linebacker Jona- than Sutherland and long snapper Chris Stoll had the same credibility as Mustipher and used it to help their teammates refocus. Three months have since passed, and all of those players have left, raising a question for the team this offseason: Who's next? "We had really established guys, not only from a playing perspective but also from a leadership perspective, in our program," coach James Franklin said. "I wouldn't say that we have that right now from a leadership stand- point." Scouring the Nittany Lions' roster this offseason presents no obvious an- swers to Franklin's search. And a closer look at the roster serves as a reflection of college football's changing land- scape. There are only eight players on this year's team who have been in the pro- gram for four full years. Four additional players — cornerbacks Johnny Dixon and Storm Duck, kicker Alex Felkins and punter Riley Thompson — have senior eligibility, but all arrived via the transfer portal. Interior offensive line- man Hunter Nourzad, a transfer from the 2022 offseason, is the only sixth- year player in the program. Volume contributors exist within Penn State's group of vet- eran players. None have been captains in their time at Penn State, but redshirt senior offen- sive tackle Caedan Wallace, se- nior safety Keaton Ellis, junior receiver KeAndre Lambert- Smith, junior linebacker Curtis Jacobs and junior tight end Theo Johnson have all started games and played extensively over multiple seasons. And, in junior offensive tackle Olu- muyiwa Fashanu, Penn State has a bona fide first-round NFL Draft prospect. Maybe just as likely, Penn State will survey its crop of im- pactful young performers from the 2021 and 2022 classes, play- ers such as quarterbacks Drew Allar and Beau Pribula, running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, linebacker Ab- dul Carter and defensive end Chop Robinson. Allar and Pribula will have to provide leadership just by vir- tue of the position they play. Franklin, his coaching staff, and the players themselves just need to find the leaders and coalesce around them. "We have to identify who those guys are," Franklin said. "They need to have strong voices. We need to be aligned with the players, and the players need to be aligned from a leadership stand- point with the coaching staff." Riding the wave of a successful 2022 season, the Nittany Lions have an opportunity to parlay their fortunes into loftier achievements in 2023. Mustipher won't be a part of that ef- fort, but he's a man who understands what it takes. "At the end of the day, those guys have got to block out all the noise and go get back to work," he said. "That's what we did this past season. It worked for us. We didn't get the goal we wanted, but the talent that's returning next year is tremendous. They've just got to go back to work." ■ Teammates looked up to senior defensive tackle PJ Mustipher last season. Now that he's gone, Penn State is hoping to see leadership emerge from a group of younger players. PHOTO BY DANIEL ALTHOUSE O P I N I O N NATE BAUER NATE.BAUER@ON3.COM HOT READ Lions Will Need Potential Leaders To Find Their Voice