Penn State category, Page 43

Second-year coach Bret Bielema and his Illinois football team are achieving at a rate not seen in the program in a long time. A very long time in some cases. The No. 24 Illini (5-1, 2-1) are ranked for the first time since 2011, out to their best start since...

MINNEAPOLIS — The Purdue Boilermakers are coming off a 29-win season in which they were ranked in the AP top 10 from wire to wire, including the No. 1 spot for one week in December, and drew a No. 3 seed for the NCAA Tournament. Still, they finished one game...

STATE COLLEGE — Sean Clifford spent last week getting a head start for what he expects will be his biggest test of the season. The extra week of practice and film study aside, Penn State’s sixth-year quarterback has something else going for him as the No. 10 Nittany Lions prepare...

Penn State’s bye week is over. James Franklin’s 5-0 Nittany Lions produced a pair of impressive victories in September, winning at Purdue (35-31) and Auburn (41-12). But there is still plenty of work left. Remember: Penn State started 5-0 last season then lost six of its final eight. Will 2022...

This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for our regional newsletter, Talk of the Town. The Penn State Transparency Tracker is an ongoing effort by Spotlight PA to document and...

Monday’s “First Call” features a strange occurrence surrounding a former Pittsburgh Pirate in the Major League Baseball playoffs. The Cleveland Browns are making a trade. A Cincinnati Bengals star is struggling. And a Pitt versus Penn State alumni battle lives up to the billing. Messin’ with Musgrove Former Pirate Joe...

UNIVERSITY PARK — Alcohol was available to all fans 21 and older at Beaver Stadium during the game this weekend between Penn State and Northwestern. It came after the Penn State board of trustees approved the expanded sale of alcohol in the stadium on Sept. 23 and picked the matchup...

Don’t call it a week off. James Franklin wants that to be known. There’s a difference, he said, between a bye week and a vacation. In other words, Penn State’s coach doesn’t believe his team has earned the latter just yet. So as Penn State approaches its lone bye week...

STATE COLLEGE — In a split second, PJ Mustipher disappeared. It’s not often the 6-foot-4, 318-pound defensive tackle gets lost in the crowd. But with Northwestern knocking on the door, looking for life and pushing for a one-score game at Penn State’s 1-yard line, Mustipher became invisible under a collection...

STATE COLLEGE — As rain pounded the field during warmups, Penn State’s PJ Mustipher found himself in his natural element. Frolicking shirtless, the 320-pound defensive tackle high-stepped and skipped, grinning ear-to-ear as he kicked up grass and dirt an hour before No. 11 Penn State outlasted Northwestern, 17-7, in the...

Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. A unanimous 2021 Supreme Court decision opened the door to student-athletes earning money for their “name, image, and likeness” — often...

Standing in a makeshift media room adjacent to Ross-Ade Stadium’s visiting locker room, James Franklin was crystal clear about the intent behind playing underclassmen in Penn State’s opener at Purdue: “I am determined to develop depth.” It was a point he made in the offseason. It was a point he...

STATE COLLEGE — It’s a quarterback’s dream, really. It’s high on an offense’s wish list of things to see, and for a defense, it’s often a sign of desperation. An attempt to find something, anything, that will spark a big play at a key time. An all-or-nothing type of move....

STATE COLLEGE — James Franklin sat at the Beaver Stadium media room dais and looked a bit surprised. He admitted that while it didn’t feel like it, Penn State did, in fact, win the “critical areas” he and his staff examine after every game. Turnover battle. Explosive plays. Penalties. The...

James Franklin joked Nick Singleton “hasn’t said 17 words” since he joined the program in January as one of the most highly touted running back recruits in Penn State history. He sure has let his play say plenty, though. Even as the Nittany Lions’ star true freshman’s national profile skyrocketed...

STATE COLLEGE — Penn State’s offense has earned the spotlight after what the Nittany Lions did to Auburn last Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium. James Franklin’s 3-0 team generated 245 rushing yards and five touchdowns on the ground in a 41-12 triumph. PSU’s offensive line had a major say in the...

AUBURN, Ala. — Five hours after being hit sticked into a different dimension, Penn State’s Sean Clifford stood at the midfield logo of Jordan-Hare Stadium and took a moment to himself. The scoreboard in front of him was turned off. But the one at Clifford’s back still read the final:...

AUBURN, Ala. — Penn State’s young players may have been the difference in the Nittany Lions’ 41-12 trouncing of Auburn Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium. And Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen were pretty good, too. We kid, we kid. Singleton and Allen, Penn State’s true freshman runners, tore up the Tigers’...