Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1480138
O C T O B E R 2 0 2 2 2 1 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M redshirt junior defensive end was going to be someone else's problem. "On the sideline watching him, it's just been great because I know when you leave him one on one, he's basically unblock- able," Fashanu said. "Just seeing him seamlessly get past opposing team tack- les, it's been fun. It's been fun to not be on that opposing side as I was during camp." Returning from a ruptured Achilles tendon that forced him out for the en- tirety of the 2021 season, Isaac has en- joyed an increasingly productive path back to action for the Nittany Lions. He took on his heaviest workload of the season's first month in the opener, a game in which the Boilermakers' quick passing attack limited his production to 1 tackle and just 2 hurries on 60 snaps. Isaac fol- lowed the effort with a lighter day against Ohio back at Beaver Stadium, gathering his first tackle for loss in the 46-10 victory over the Bobcats. Then came a breakout performance at Auburn in Week 3. Tallying 3 tackles for loss, including his first credited sack since he brought down Payton Thorne in Penn State's December 2020 meeting with Michigan State, Isaac announced his presence forcefully on a national stage against the Tigers. It was the kind of splashy performance that defensive line coach John Scott Jr. had long hoped to see. "Adisa Isaac is starting to look like his old self," Scott said. "What we for- get sometimes about Adisa, because he is such a great kid and he's so talented, is that he hadn't played a lot of football [before getting hurt]. In 2020, he came in and he was a backup, and we didn't have him last year. He's still a young player who has so much potential to continue to grow and develop." The Long Road Back Isaac hasn't been alone in his journey back to the football field. Sharing in the unwelcome experience of having to push past an injury, fifth-year senior defen- sive tackle PJ Mustipher has also come back into play for the Nittany Lions in the trenches this season. In Mustipher's case, an Oct. 9 knee injury early in Penn State's loss at Iowa forced him to the sideline for the re- mainder of the 2021 season. It ultimately prompted him to return to the team this fall, taking advantage of the NCAA's bo- nus year of eligibility given to all partici- pants in the 2020 COVID season. Because he was hurt at midseason, Mustipher has had a more condensed recovery timeline than Isaac. He sat out the last seven games of the 2021 cam- paign, as well as the team's subsequent winter workouts, spring practices and informal summer prep work. He admit- ted recently that the road back to compe- tition was rocky at times. "Just this journey and this process, it's been difficult. It's been really challeng- ing," Mustipher said. "But at the same time, it's been great, because I've grown up and learned so many new things about myself." Now that they've returned to action, the two standout defensive linemen feel as though the first hurdle might have been the biggest. At Purdue, Isaac re- called the moment when both players took stock of their situation. Having invested so much physi- cally, mentally and emotionally in their respective comebacks, Isaac and Mustipher came away from the experi- ence understanding that they had taken a big step in an ongoing journey. "It was kind of surreal, just to look back at how long the process was and everything that we went through to get back to where we are today," Isaac said. "We just take it in and don't take it for "Adisa Isaac is starting to look like his old self. What we forget sometimes about Adisa, because he is such a great kid and he's so talented, is that he hadn't played a lot of football [before getting hurt]. In 2020, he came in and he was a backup, and we didn't have him last year. He's still a young player who has so much potential to continue to grow and develop." D E F E N S I V E L I N E C O A C H J O H N S C O T T J R . Isaac, a redshirt junior defensive end, said he doesn't feel as though he's all the way back from the injury that forced him to miss the entire 2021 season, but he's started every game for the Nittany Lions this season. PHOTO BY DANIEL ALTHOUSE