Purdue to be without key contributor when Penn State football visits in September
Penn State Nittany Lions football received some positive news over the weekend ahead of a season-opening trip to Purdue. Wideout Milton Wright is no longer a part of the Boilermakers’ roster.
According to reports, Wright is no longer with the Boilermakers because he is academically ineligible.
Wright will be a big miss for Jeff Brohm’s team.
He caught 57 passes last season for 732 yards and seven touchdowns. That mark ranked him second on the team, behind only David Bell, who was drafted in the third round by the Cleveland Browns this spring.
Without Wright’s senior presence, there is no clear top target for the pass-dependent Boilermaker offense.
Including Wright, all three of Purdue’s top pass-catchers from last season have moved on.
Brohm’s top wide receiver option next season would now appear to be Broc Thompson, who accumulated 457 yards and four touchdowns on 30 receptions last season, after transferring from Marshall.
The Boilermakers also added a pair of wideouts out of the transfer portal this offseason in Iowa’s Tyrone Tracy and Auburn’s Elijah Canion.
Tracy caught one pass for four yards against Penn State last season, while also rushing for three yards. Canion did not partake in the action when Auburn made the trip to Happy Valley last year.
Wright’s absence is an interesting twist for what appeared to be a strength-on-strength matchup in West Lafayette on September 1. The Boilermakers were one of the Big Ten’s most prolific passing teams a season ago, while the Nittany Lions appear to have one of the conference’s strongest secondary units for the second season running.
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How much will Wright’s absence impact Penn State’s chances?
The Nittany Lions were already the favorite heading into the early season contest, with the bookies giving James Franklin’s group a 2.5-point edge on the road.
Following the news of Wright’s departure, the line has moved slightly to make PSU a three-point favorite.
Jeff Brohm’s team posted an excellent 9-4 record last season, claiming wins over Iowa, Michigan State and Tennessee.
The Nittany Lions boast a 15-3-1 all-time record against Purdue. They have won nine consecutive games between the two programs dating back to 2005. The two teams last met in 2019, with Penn State coasting to a 35-7 victory.
The contest against the Boilermakers will be an unconventional Thursday kickoff, putting the Nittany Lions in the national spotlight right from the start of their season.
No announcement on an exact start time for the game has been made as of yet.
