Penn State’s PJ Mustipher returns to Happy Valley hungrier than ever

The Nittany Lions defensive star had a meal to remember in Indianapolis after passing his conditioning test. He missed much of last season with a knee injury.

Penn State defensive tackle PJ Mustipher celebrates after a tackle last season.Read moreBARRY REEGER / AP

by Mike Jensen

Published July 27, 2022, 5:39 p.m. ET

INDIANAPOLIS – By all accounts, especially from his head coach, Penn State star defensive tackle PJ Mustipher crushed it Tuesday night at St. Elmo’s, the venerable local steakhouse.

A big deal? Well, yeah. After coming back from knee surgery that caused Mustipher to miss the second half of the 2021 season, his willingness to eat a strong portion of the menu in the presence of his head coach is at least worth noting, which is why James Franklin did at Wednesday’s Big Ten media day.

“We went to have a steak at St. Elmo’s, like a lot of people – owned by a Penn State grad, I want to say,” Franklin said. “One of the most impressive things that I’ve ever seen is PJ ate one of the biggest steaks I’ve ever seen in my life, biggest piles of mashed potatoes, ate the shrimp. I didn’t tell him about the cocktail sauce beforehand. And then also ordered a full separate meal of two lobster tails that are massive. And he crushed it all.”

The real significance of it?

“He said he was kind of enjoying himself because he’s passed the conditioning test,” Franklin said. “He is celebrating the fact he’s passed the conditioning test. That’s behind him. He’ll never have to run the Penn State conditioning test again. He’s in great spirits. He feels both mentally and physically 100 percent back because I think that’s a big part of this, right, as well as not just the physical aspect of it, it’s the mental aspect of it as well.”

Hard to overstate the importance for Penn State of having Mustipher ready to go for preseason practice.

“He wished that he was ready for spring ball,’’ Franklin said of the 6-foot-4, 318-pounder (”before the steak,” Mustipher said) on the watch lists for the Outland Trophy for the country’s premier interior lineman and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy for the nation’s best defensive player. “He wasn’t. But the most important thing is he’s ready for camp.”

Not just because of his production. Penn State found him to be irreplaceable when he went down last season.

“When you get a kid that ball is really important to him,” Franklin said. “They’re high production, low maintenance. He’s already graduated. … The other thing I like about him – a lot of leaders in today’s game, as players they want to lead by example. And they’re not really into calling their teammates out. PJ is willing, and is respected enough that he can do that with anybody … and isn’t worried about hurting feelings.”

Mustipher said he’s had a lot of ups and downs in this recovery. He thinks camp will be another challenge, that he hasn’t played football in a long time.

That conditioning test … quick sprints, touch … touch. Then 50 yards, 12 times, with 30 seconds rest in between.

“The thing Coach always says he likes about it, it reminds you of football, because on the even numbers, you have to touch [the ground] with your left hand, on the odd numbers you have to touch with the right,” Mustipher said. “So even if you make all the times, if you don’t touch with the right hand, you fail. So it kind of does remind you of football, because you’ve got to be able to think and execute.”

Deciding to come back to Penn State for another season was not a given. Mustipher was asked how close he came to going the other way. He thought he gave his decision maybe on Jan. 4.

“I probably decided on the third of January,” Mustipher said. “I wasn’t just waiting to wait. I really hadn’t decided. That tells you how much I was in between.”

That dinner … Did Mustipher impress himself?

“That’s what I do, man,” Mustipher said. “We have a [Texas] Roadhouse in State College, I’m there about once a week. They know my name. They know my order over there. I love steak. A 20-ounce steak to me … I eat a 22-ounce steak about every week. It was a normal day for me.”

But to take it all down in front of his head coach and athletic director.

“He was paying for it,” Mustipher said. “We’ve got camp in a couple of days. He’s got to pay for what he’s about to do to us during camp. So I’m like, let me order the biggest steak and the best food that I saw.”

Coming off the injury, was he legit concerned about that conditioning test?

“I’ve never been in the past,” Mustipher said. “It’s been really easy for me. This year was kind of different. I didn’t know what was going to happen.”

Passed it with flying colors?

“Nooo – I didn’t pass it with flying colors,” Mustipher said with a laugh. “I wish. That’s why I’m excited. I checked that box off and got through it. That’s what this whole process has been. It’s not going to be easy but you’ve still got to get the job done. That’s what I’m all about.”