UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Head coach James Franklin, senior safety Ji'Ayir Brown, redshirt senior quarterback Sean Clifford and senior defensive tackle PJ Mustipher will represent Penn State at the 50th Annual Big Ten Kickoff in Indianapolis, Wednesday, July 27.
Franklin, a 27-year football coaching veteran, was appointed Penn State's 16th head football coach on January 11, 2014 and enters his 12th season as a collegiate head coach. Franklin's career head coaching record is 91-49 and is one of only five active FBS coaches to lead his team to a bowl game in each of his first nine seasons as a head coach.
Under Franklin's direction, Penn State has finished in the top 12 of the final College Football Playoff rankings in four of the last six seasons, has earned berths in three New Year's Six bowl games with two wins and won the 2016 Big Ten Championship. Franklin has guided the Nittany Lions to an 86 percent graduation success rate, a perfect single-year 1,000 APR for the 2018-19 school year and record-breaking performances in the classroom.
Ji'Ayir Brown · Sr. · S · 5-11 · 208 · Trenton, N.J. · Trenton Central
- Tied for the nation's lead in interceptions (6) in 2021.
- Named a third team All-Big Ten honoree by the coaches and honorable mention by the media.
- Posted 73 tackles (61 solo) to go along with six interceptions, five pass breakups, two fumble recoveries, one forced fumble and a tackle for loss.
- Had a hand in eight takeaways (six interceptions, two fumble recoveries).
- Recorded 112 return yards on the six interceptions.
- The six picks were the most by a Penn State player since Anthony Scirrotto also had six in 2006.
- Became the first Nittany Lion with six interceptions and two fumble recoveries in a season since Alan Zemaitis in 2005 (six interceptions, two fumble recoveries).
- Tallied an 87-yard interception return for a touchdown at Maryland (11/6), the fifth-longest interception return in school history.
- Tallied two interceptions vs. Arkansas in the Outback Bowl (1/1), tying a Penn State bowl record.
Sean Clifford · R-Sr. · QB · 6-2 · 212 · Cincinnati, Ohio · Saint Xavier
- Has played in 38 career games, making 33 starts.
- Is one of three Penn State players to reach 8,000 yards of total offense and one of three PSU quarterbacks to eclipse 7,500 career passing yards.
- Sits as the current all-time leader at Penn State in completion percentage (.603).
- Ranks second at PSU in career passing touchdowns (62), third in passing yardage (7,839), completions (607) and passing efficiency (141.2), fourth in attempts (1,006), tied for seventh in yards per passing attempt (7.8), eighth in lowest interception percentage (2.49), and 10th in touchdown pass percentage (6.16) and wins as a starting quarterback (21).
- Is third in school history in 300-yard passing games (7) and 200-yard games (19).
- Among Penn State quarterbacks, is third all-time at PSU in rushing yardage (897) and tied for sixth in rushing touchdowns (10).
- Is second all-time in program history in career total yards (8,736) and touchdowns responsible for (72).
- Owns 26 career games with multi-touchdown passes, including 12 with three or more TDs and three with four or more.
- Has 16 career games with multi-passing touchdown halves and nine games with multi-passing TD quarters.
- Has thrown for at least 250 passing yards and three passing touchdowns in eight career games.
- Has six career touchdown passes of 70 or more yards.
- Has completed 105 career passes of 20 or more yards.
DT PJ Mustipher · Sr. · DT · 6-4 · 321 · Owings Mills, Md. · McDonogh School
- Named second-team All-Big Ten by the coaches and honorable mention by the media.
- Named an AP All-Big Ten first team selection honoree.
- Earned Academic All-Big Ten honors.
- Earned the team's Ridge Riley Memorial Award.
- Named a Rotary Lombardi Award semifinalist and a Lott IMPACT Trophy quarterfinalist.
- Made six starts.
- Was voted a team captain.
- Tallied 21 tackles (16 solo) to go along with three tackles for loss and a sack.
Once again, Big Ten Network will broadcast both days of the event live on BTN and the FOX Sports app.
For more information on joining the Nittany Lion Club and reserving new season tickets for the 2022 Penn State Football season presented by PSECU, as well as club seating in Beaver Stadium, fans can visit www.PSUnrivaled.com, call 1-800-NITTANY weekdays from 9 a.m.- 4 p.m.
More than 5,300 new season tickets have already been sold for the 2022 campaign.