Extra Big Ten Media Day thoughts, DDS to PSU, more: Friday's 5th Quarter

Indianapolis -- July 22 will go down as one of the most important summer Thursdays in Penn State football history.

That sounds hyperbolic, but it's not: The Lions landed a program-changing recruit while putting some swagger on display ahead of the 2021 college football season.

This week's Friday Fifth Quarter takes a closer look at everything that happened, both here and in Owing Mills, Md., as head coach James Franklin's program got better in a big way.

Georgia stormed back in Dani Dennis-Sutton's recruitment, but Kirby Smart's Bulldogs could ultimately not do enough in the end to land the nation's best defensive end.

This was a staff-wide effort for Penn State, from Franklin to national recruiting coordinator Kenny Sanders and everyone in between, including fellow end and commit Ken Talley and other members of the nation's No. 2 Class of 2022.

More: 10 Things to Know: Five-star Dani Dennis-Sutton commits to Penn State

It's the kind of effort that's a must if you want to out recruit two SEC powers, even if the player goes to a high school that has become a PSU feeder program over the last few years.

Landing the 6-foot-5, 253-pound prospect is the kind of thing that makes shockwaves nationally, in a good way. Penn State fans are proud, and they should be: This was a huge win.

Think Penn State's torrid recruiting run is coming to an end? As Lee Corso says, not so fast, my friends!

Jacksonville, Fla., Trinity Christian Academy standout Cam Miller has decided that he will announce his commitment on Monday, and the Lions are a finalist along with Virginia Tech.

With 21 pledges as of Friday, room at the proverbial inn is getting full in State College, and so if Miller wants to join the Nittany Lions, he probably needs to do so now. That's why his sudden setting of an announcement date is notable, and it's no coincidence that four Rivals' FutureCast predictions have been logged in Penn State's favor.

We'll see how it shakes out in a few days, but things are looking good for PSU to add its 10th pledge in the month of July.

It's hard to say how much of a role the chance to talk to players and Franklin in person for the first time in a long time played in this, but I feel strongly about it nonetheless: This group gave off a vibe filled with confidence, poise, and focus that seems to be coursing through the programs veins after it often missing a year ago.

Dotson said that he wants to be back on the turf here in December for the Big Ten title game. Castro-Fields feels great about the secondary, including all of the newcomers, and Mustipher believes that a big season is in store for the pass rush.

There are nearly never negatives coming out of an event like this. It's built for positive publicity and hype, after all. Yet, I exited the day firmly believing that this group has the kind of mentality it lacked so often a season ago, and that should mean positive things come the fall.

Dotson is definitely excited about Penn State's new-look offense under Mike Yurcich, but he believes it can function in some of the positive ways the attack did under Kirk Ciarrocca, too.

However, it will definitely look different and needs some other receivers besides the All-Big Ten standout to step up. That fact made Castro-Fields' response about which young receivers are standing out to him very interesting.

"Harrison Wallace," Castro-Fields said.

"Where we live, everyone plays basketball, but he's like 360 between the legs dunking, like stuff I've never seen in my life."

Pickup basketball is not college football, of course, but the sheer athleticism transfers, and that makes the freshman a possible instant impact contributor this fall.

We'll be back at Lucas Oil Stadium tomorrow to hear from some of the Lions' opponents in 2021, including Ohio State and head coach Ryan Day in addition to Wisconsin, where Penn State opens the season.

Here are some final thoughts for this installment:

--Fatorma Mulbah received a lot of praise from his peers for how hard he works and how much he can lift. He might not be ready to play yet this year, but his time is coming.

--Mustipher is just a massive human being. He should have no issues pushing people around this fall.

--I'm really starting to believe that Dotson will be one of the nation's biggest stars this fall. He has it all on the field and a great personality off of it.

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