Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1499919
Site Lines C O M M E N T S F R O M T H E L I O N S D E N A T B L U E W H I T E I L L U S T R A T E D . C O M JUNE-JULY 2023/VOL. 38, NO. 10 MANAGING EDITOR Matt Herb CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Mark Panus, Chris Riffer WEBSITE PUBLISHER Sean Fitz WEBSITE EDITOR Nate Bauer STAFF WRITER Greg Pickel RECRUITING REPORTER Ryan Snyder FOOTBALL ANALYST Thomas Frank Carr CONTRIBUTING WRITER Jim Carlson PHOTOGRAPHY Daniel Althouse, Bill Anderson, Steve Manuel, Mark Selders COVER PHOTO Daniel Althouse DESIGN Jeanette Blankenship, Chris Miller F F F PUBLISHER Stu Coman BUSINESS MANAGER Linda Autry ADVERTISING SALES/MARKETING Michelle DeLee-Hamilton 877-630-8768 CIRCULATION MANAGER Sarah Boone CUSTOMER SERVICE Cathy Jones, Laura Thornton, Crystal Clayton 800-421-7751 BUSINESS INTERN Jackson Jones BLUE WHITE ILLUSTRATED (USPS 742-550) is published monthly, except June, by Coman Publishing Company, 905 W Main St, Ste 24F, Durham, NC 27701-2076. A one-year (11 issues) subscription is $68.00. First-class, digital and foreign rates available on request. Periodicals postage paid at Durham, NC 27701 and additional mailing offices. Printed by The Papers, Milford, Ind. POSTMASTER: Please send address corrections/changes to BLUE WHITE ILLUSTRATED, PO Box 2331, Durham NC 27702-2331. For advertising or subscription informa- tion call 1-919-688-0218 or write BLUE WHITE ILLUSTRATED, PO Box 2331, Durham NC 27702. W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M ON WHETHER THE NITTANY LIONS ARE LEGITIMATE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF CONTENDERS … I am perennially optimistic, but I really believe this is the year. Stud defense, potential first-team All- Americans on the defensive line, at linebacker and cornerback, solid O-line and ridiculous running backs. If Drew Allar is what we believe he can be at quarterback, why not? — IronLion We will see. I think that the majority of folks have Penn State significantly behind Ohio State and Michigan. If anything, I think Penn State is hiding in the shadows pretty deep. The longer they stay in the shadows, the better, in my opinion. Beat one of those other two opponents, and you are suddenly no longer shadow lurking. — porcupine The defensive tackle rotation is still too light. Like every year, we won't be able to stop Ohio State or Michigan from running all over us. We're also just assuming Allar will automatically be great this year. Plus, wide receiver is a questionable position as well. But if Allar is the man, we should be more than fine on offense and should go 10-2 in the regular season. — PSUpaly We MUST get an elite defensive tackle to man the middle like PJ Mustipher. If not, we're not making the playoff. Teams in the Big Ten will run right at us. Get one, no matter what it takes. If we do, we have a great shot. The wide receiver group concerns me, too. This group must play outstanding for our running game to be effective. — Spinpsu I'd rather be the underdog. I feel like Penn State performs better as the underdog. — Blackheart8541 ON PENN STATE'S SHOWING IN THE NFL DRAFT … I can't tell you how happy I am for Sean Clifford. He took so, so much crap. Some of it justified, some of it not. But he was a great leader, tough dude, and he put on a show in the Rose Bowl. Good for him getting drafted in the fifth round by the Packers! — MD1979 Very few quarterbacks come out of college with the experience Sean has. You could see from the way he orchestrated things that he really understood the offense and the defenses. 46 starts and 32 wins in a tough league. Good for him. Good for the program. And good for James Franklin for sticking with him. — Rick76 I wasn't surprised that Clifford got drafted. He interviewed with like 10 different teams before the draft, and I'm sure he interviewed well. There was clearly a lot of interest in him, and I figured someone would be willing to jump the line with the late-round flier. But I'd be lying through my teeth if I said I thought he'd go in the fifth round. I was very pleasantly surprised and happy for him. He took so much crap from this fan base, and his re- sponse was always to keep his head down and keep going. I'll always re- spect him for that, and I hope he carves out a nice NFL career for himself. — psuhv610 I'm not surprised by PJ Mustipher [not being drafted]. He had a bad com- bine, and nothing in his film this year would overcome that. It seems to me he has never fully recovered [from his season-ending leg injury in 2021]. Joey Porter Jr. still being around at 32 is a mild surprise, but a good one for the Steelers. — Old As Dirt 4 J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 2 3 Defensive tackle PJ Mustipher battled back from a season-ending leg injury he suffered in 2021, but he wasn't selected in the NFL Draft last month. Instead, Mustipher signed a free-agent contract with the Denver Broncos after the draft concluded. PHOTO BY DANIEL ALTHOUSE