Penn State DT PJ Mustipher epxected to be ready for start of the season

During his media availability on Wednesday afternoon, Penn State head coach James Franklin informed the media that senior defensive tackle PJ Mustipher is expected to be ready for the Nittany Lions season opener on September 1 against the Purdue Boilermakers.

While the news isn't unexpected, it is the first confirmation that the media has received regarding Mustipher and the expectations surrounding his return from a left knee injury that he suffered last October against the Iowa Hawkeyes. The Owings Mills (MD) native would leave the game early in the first quarter of the Nittany Lions' eventual 23-20 defeat in Iowa City.

A returning Mustipher will provide a much-needed boost of experience and leadership on a Nittany Lions defense that lost a trio of productive players in defensive ends Arnold Ebiketie and Jesse Luketa as well as defensive tackle Derrick Tangelo, all to the NFL.

Mustipher will start inside this season in first-year defensive coordinator Manny Diaz's 4-2-5/4-3 defense. Starting inside along him will likely be redshirt sophomore Coziah Izzard or redshirt freshman Jordan van Den Berg while on the outside redshirt senior Nick Tarburton or sophomore Chob Robinson will start on one side while redshirt junior Adisa Isaac will be expected to start on the other side as he himself returns from an injury that caused him to miss the entirety of the 2021 season.