Penn State Football: James Franklin Announces Special Teams Starter Change
On the heels of Penn State Football’s first win of the season, head coach James Franklin met with the media for his weekly press conference Monday.
While Franklin answered plenty of questions on Penn State’s personnel and the Nittany Lions’ play against Nevada, Franklin made a surprising announcement regarding one of Penn State’s starters on special teams.
Penn State Football Makes Punting Change
Franklin announced Monday that Gabe Nwosu has replaced Riley Thompson as Penn State’s starting punter.
Thompson, a senior from Australia, had been Penn State’s starting punter for the past two seasons, and was expected to remain in that position, despite offseason rumblings of a competition between Thompson and Nwosu.
Thompson had performed well as the Nittany Lions punter over the past two seasons, averaging 44.2 yards per punt (third best all-time at Penn State).
Instead, the 6-foot-6 inch, 297 pound Nwosu will step into the starting position at punter alongside his other starting role as a kickoff specialist. In making the announcement,
James Franklin noted that Nwosu is as close to Jordan Stout as the Nittany Lions have seen in the past few years.
Penn State’s punter did not see the field this weekend against Nevada, which is likely why Franklin made the announcement at his weekly press conference.
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Education: Saint Vincent College, Penn State Law School
Location: Washington, DC
Experience:Robert Casturo has covered Penn State football for NittanyCentral since 2022. Casturo previously covered Penn State football through a social media presence (@PSU_FB_Thoughts on X) since 2019. Casturo earned his bachelor's degree from Saint Vincent College in 2015, where he was a punter for 1 season on the Saint Vincent College football team and worked in the athletic department for 2 years as a student manager. Casturo earned his JD from Penn State Law in 2018 where he was a senior editor of the Penn State Law Review.
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