Penn State football will be without starting defensive tackle Antonio Shelton for its top-15 match-up against Minnesota next weekend, James Franklin announced at his weekly media availability Tuesday.
Shelton was suspended after he allegedly spit at a Michigan State player in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game. He was ejected immediately after the act, which drew one of three unsportsmanlike conduct calls against the Nittany Lions that afternoon.
Antonio Shelton has been suspended for one game following his actions during the fourth quarter of the Michigan State game. pic.twitter.com/v0OH3L2NTk
— Onward State (@OnwardState) October 29, 2019
The Big Ten subsequently announced a public reprimand of Shelton and its support of his suspension.
‘The Big Ten Conference office announced today that it publicly reprimands Penn State football player Antonio Shelton for violating the Big Ten Sportsmanship Policy during a game against Michigan State on Oct. 26,’ the conference press release said. ‘Shelton was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and ejected from the contest after he spit at an opposing player near the 7:30 mark of the fourth quarter.
The conference also supports Penn State’s one-game suspension of Shelton for his actions.’
Franklin didn’t elaborate much on the suspension after announcing it, although in his post-game press conference following the Nittany Lions’ win over the Spartans, he expressed his disapproval.
“I’m not happy at all with any of those things. We had a very direct conversation in the locker room about those things,” he said. “It was an emotional game, and I’m not going to make excuses. We’re going to own it all. That’s not who we are, and that’s not who we will be.”
Shelton apologized for his ejection on Twitter after the game.
“I would like to apologize for my actions during tonight’s game. That was extremely selfish behavior,” he said. “I misrepresented my coach, my school and my team. That’s not who we are and that’s not who I am. I represent more than myself, this won’t happen again.”
The NCAA’s rulebook states that a player must be ejected after they take two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, which effectively makes the first unsportsmanlike foul serve as a warning. Shelton hadn’t been assessed an unsportsmanlike penalty prior to his ejection, so the referees determined that the foul was serious enough to warrant an immediate ejection from the game.
The redshirt junior has started all eight games for the Nittany Lions this season. Sophomores P.J. Mustipher and Fred Hansard have been second-team DTs behind Shelton and Robert Windsor.
This isn’t the first time Franklin has suspended a starting defensive lineman for a big game. In 2016, starting defensive end Garrett Sickels was suspended for the first half of the Ohio State game for missing a class. Sickels, however, did play in the second half of what would be a monumental Penn State win.
No. 5 Penn State (8-0) has a bye this week and travels to Minneapolis on Nov. 9 for a noon EST/11 a.m. CST kickoff against No. 13 Minnesota (8-0). The game will air on ABC.
