Penn State football defenders Jameial Lyons and Kaveion Keys are no longer part of the Nittany Lions program. Both were removed from the online roster on Saturday and a Penn State spokesperson confirmed that neither is still enrolled at the school. The defensive end and linebacker, respectively, were both on “interim suspension” while handling a personal matter, an athletic department spokesperson told Blue-White Illustrated on Wednesday. That’s the day preseason camp opened. Neither player was seen at the portion of practice open to reporters that day.
Head coach James Franklin is set to speak with reporters at 12:15 p.m. ET today to kick off the team’s local media day. It will mark his first opportunity to address the situation.
Assessing the removal of Lyons and Keys from the Penn State roster
Lyons, a sophomore, was set to have an increased role in the team’s defensive line rotation. Last year was a promising first on campus that saw him use a year of eligibility. Keys, a redshirt freshman, was the coaching staff’s Developmental Squad Defense and Special Teams Co-Player of the Year in 2023. He saw time in two games last year. This year, he was tracking to have an expanded role. That was especially so with the Lions down numbers at linebacker. That’s because of moving Abdul Carter to defensive end in addition to Keon Wylie’s injury.
Our preview story noted that the first question Franklin would face — before this news broke — focused on the suspension of Lyons and Keys. It’s not all that will come up, of course. Another top talking point will be about how Penn State improves in its biggest games this fall. Here’s what we wrote on that topic:
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.
Read the full media day preview here.
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