Penn State’s season-opening opponent down a No. 1 wide receiver

Before you know it, Penn State will be kicking off a new season on the road against the Purdue Boilermakers on a Thursday night on national television. And it is being reported Purdue will have one less wide receiver to count on in the 2022 season.

According to Tom Dienhart, via Twitter, Purdue wide receiver Milton Wright has been ruled academically ineligible for the upcoming season. He is also no longer said to be a member of the Purdue football program.

As noted by Dienhart, Purdue was counting on Wright to be the team’s top wide receiver for the upcoming season. Wright was the team’s second-leading receiver last season behind David Bell (a third-round pick of the Cleveland Browns in the 2022 NFL draft) with 732 receiving yards and a team-high seven touchdowns on 57 receptions in 12 games.

This is no small loss for Purdue, who now has to replace their top two wide receivers from a season ago to keep up the kind of offense that can cause some serious troubles for any Big Ten team on its schedule in 2022. Penn State’s strength should still show in the defensive secondary as well in the fall, which suggests this part of the game could become an advantage for the Nittany Lions in the season-opening matchup in Week 1.

Purdue’s top wide receiver returning in 2022 now is Broc Thompson, a senior who accounted for 457 receiving yards and four touchdowns on 30 receptions in 2021. Junior TJ Sheffield should see his role increased even more now as well after hauling in 36 catches for 325 yards and five touchdowns last season.

Penn State will visit Purdue on Thursday, September 1 for the 2022 season opener. FOX will air the game, with a specific start time still to be announced.

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