James Franklin addresses Chop Robinson's status for Michigan game

The Penn State Nittany Lions have a huge matchup on Saturday against the Michigan Wolverines with possible Big Ten title and College Football Playoff hopes on the line. That is why it was great news for fans of the program to hear that defensive lineman Chop Robinson could return to action on Saturday.

On Wednesday, Penn State head coach James Franklin addressed Robinson’s status for the game and revealed how he has looked in practice so far this week.

“Yeah, I think I said that to you guys on Monday that we’re hopeful that he’ll be ready to go,” said Franklin.

As far as how Robinson has looked in practice? ‘Good,’ according to the Penn State headman, at least from what he’s seen of him from the other side of the field.

“Good. I spend most of the time on the offensive side of the field. So I gotta watch tape on him. But he looked good on Sunday and looked at on Monday.”

Franklin is staying tight-lipped about Robinson’s status ahead of Penn State’s showdown with Michigan. Fans hoping to find a direct answer to the defensive lineman’s status for the game will have to wait until 11 a.m. Saturday to find out the answer to that question.

How Beating Michigan would be ‘massive’ for perception of Franklin and Penn State

When fans think of the Big Ten, they think of Michigan and Ohio State. Then, Penn State lies a tier below. It’s an understandable image. Penn State hasn’t defeated the Wolverines and Buckeyes in the same season since 2008.

While Penn State already fell to Ohio State this season, it has a chance to defeat Michigan for the first time since 2020. Blue White Illustrated’s Sean Fitz believes a win this weekend could rocket the Nittanly Lions into rare air in the Big Ten.

“It’d be massive,” Fitz told On3’s Andy Staples. “Look at the history under James Franklin, big games, where do they go? They go to the other side. When we talk about him not wanting to be distracted by Michigan, he’s got enough things to worry about because of his record against top teams.

“You look at what Penn State has been able to do is just get to the doorstep and then just kind of stand outside,” Fitz said. “That’s been the MO for this team for so long. It would be unbelievably huge, especially when you take a look at the potential tiebreaker on the other side.”

If Penn State secures a victory against Michigan, Michigan prevails over Ohio State, and all three teams end with an 11-1 record, the tiebreaker for the East Division will be determined by their performance against teams from the Big Ten West Division.

To resolve the three-way division tie, the Big Ten will assess the overall conference records of these three teams’ opponents from the West Division. After this Saturday’s games, the Lions currently hold the lead in the tiebreaker race.