What are the top 5 questions facing Penn State at today’s team media day?

Penn State football media day is here. The annual event featuring head coach James Franklin, his coaching staff, and players is an early August staple during preseason camp. Much will be said throughout the course of the day, and there is a practice viewing window to close things out. The 11th-year leader of the Lions will kick things off with a 35-minute news conference inside of the Beaver Stadium media room at 12:15. From there, his three new coordinators, Andy Kotelnicki, Tom Allen, and Justin Lustig will each answer questions for 10 minutes. Then, things will shift to Holuba Hall, where players and assistant coaches will be available for nearly an hour.

What are the top questions that will come up throughout the afternoon? We rank them below, but know we couldn’t cover them all. So, tell us which ones we missed that would have made your list inside The Lions Den forum.

1. What’s the latest on Jameial Lyons and Kaveion Keys?

When a Penn State spokesperson said following preseason practice No. 1 on Monday that Nittany Lion defensive end Jameial Lyons and Kaveion Keys “are on interim suspension handling a personal matter,” the statement also included this line: “We will not have any further comment.” That is 100 percent true. But, it isn’t likely to stop someone from asking Franklin about the situation. He will decline comment and point back to the previously shared statement. Nothing new will come out of it. Essentially, it’ll be a wasted minute or so of the news conference. But, it’s all but guaranteed to come up and play out exactly as described. Despite that, since we know subscribers here at BWI and Penn State fans all over the place are very interested in this story, it leads our list.

2. How will Penn State play better in its biggest games?

A yearly tradition at local media day is a topic from Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis becoming a top talking point a couple of weeks later in State College. My prediction is that the topic this year will be how Penn State, and its second-year starting quarterback, Drew Allar, can be better in its biggest games, which is a direct quote from Franklin during his podium speech at Lucas Oil Stadium.

“For us, we’ve got to play our best when our best is needed most, in the biggest games, at the biggest moments,” he said. “I think, if you look at us specifically last year, did some phenomenal things. That’s the step that we need to take, and having a returning starting quarterback obviously helps with that. We’re a quarterback-driven game, whether it’s in the NFL, college, or high school, and having a returning quarterback at that position that did some phenomenal things — I think he was second in touchdown to interception ratio. I think he broke the national record in completions without an interception. So did some phenomenal things.

“We’ve got to build on that. Then I think the pieces of the puzzle around him — tight end, running back, and then receiver — has been the big question mark really since last year. We’ve got a ton of confidence in that room. Those guys got a huge chip on their shoulder.”

During the three waves of interviews, numerous people will be asked how Allar and Penn State can beat the best teams on their schedule.

3. How are Drew Allar and the receivers progressing?

This making the list isn’t a shock. The only surprise is that it doesn’t check in higher. But, not everything can be Nos. 1 and 2. With that said, nothing generated more words, the typed and spoken kind alike, then the receivers this offseason.

From Julian Fleming arriving to KeAndre Lambert-Smith leaving, the health of Harrison “Trey” Wallace III, whether or not returners like Liam Clifford or Kaden Saunders can earn a bigger role, and what newcomers Peter Gonzalez, Josiah Brown, and Tyseer Denmark can do, there was no shortage of storylines. None of that answers the key question, though: Can the position group be better in 2024? And, you can’t have that discussed without including Allar. Both he and the pass catchers received the lion’s share of the blame for the offenses that struggled in 2023, which is why they, their position coaches, and Franklin will be asked about how they can be better in 2024 at length.

4. How are the Penn State lines looking?

It wouldn’t be a Penn State media day without talk about the offensive line. But, there will be chatter about the defensive line, too. Starting with the former, expect to read about Nick Dawkins being prepared to start at center and also that Drew Shelton is ready to go at left tackle. An inquiry will be asked and answered, too, about the right tackle battle between Anthony Donkoh and Nolan Rucci. On the other side of the ball, how Franklin, Allen, and Deion Barnes feel about their depth at defensive end will come up. So, too, will a request for a status report on the team’s veteran defensive tackles.

5. Kicking it around

Surprisingly, at least to me, the Penn State kicking situation did not come up at Big Ten Media Days. That will not be the case at local team media day. The Nittany Lions enter the year with returns Sander Sahaydak and Ryan Barker set to battle Tulsa transfer Chase Meyer for the job. Franklin and Lustig will be asked what that will look like. And, a timeline to make a decision will come up, too.

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