Penn State head coach James Franklin met with the media for his first game week press conference of the 2025 season.
Franklin announced the winner in the strong safety battle opposite of Zakee Wheatley and it wasn’t sophomore Dejuan Lane or redshirt junior transfer King Mack.
It was redshirt freshman Antoine Belgrave-Shorter.
Belgrave-Shorter entered camp as the dark horse to Lane and Mack.
Many felt Lane had the inside edge considering he saw action in 2024 following the season-ending injury to K.J. Winston.
As summer camp progressed, Franklin noted that it was Belgrave-Shorter’s consistency that got him the starters job.
However, Franklin said there will be roles for Lane and Mack.
“Those other two safeties we plan on playing a lot,” Franklin said. “We feel like we got four safeties we can win with. Belgrave is probably a guy that there wasn’t a lot of conversations going on [about] outside of the Lasch Building, but led us in interceptions and turnovers in training camp.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.“Been very, very consistent about how he’s gone about his business. So, you know, he earned that spot. But the other two guys will play a lot, and we need them to play a lot.”
Franklin emphasized that the first three weeks are key in developing the depth chart to properly gauge personnel and distribute reps accordingly.
Penn State kicks off 3:30 PM (Eastern) Saturday against Nevada in Beaver Stadium broadcasted on CBS.
