No matter how you look at it, Saturday’s Penn State-Ohio State showdown in Beaver Stadium is a big one for Nittany Lions wide receiver Julian Fleming.
Fleming made his name as a five-star receiver at Southern Columbia High School, less than two hours from Beaver Stadium. He set the Pennsylvania prep receiving records for touchdowns and career yards, and was the PA Gatorade Player of the Year.
But then he spurned James Franklin’s myriad overtures and went to Ohio State instead.
In four seasons at Ohio State (2020-23), Fleming faced his home state team four times. And four times the Buckeyes won. In two appearances against Penn State, he caught three passes for 36 yards. In his four seasons in Columbus overall, Fleming caught 79 passes for 973 yards for seven touchdowns and a 12.3-yard average. Good, but not great or elite.
His last touchdown reception as a college receiver — as a Buckeye or a Nittany Lion — came on Oct. 22, 2022, a 79-yarder from then-Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud against Iowa in the fourth quarter of a 54-10 rout. That was 793 days ago.
In January, Fleming returned home to the Keystone State. Through seven games wearing the Blue and White, he’s had big successes — two key fourth-down catches on the final drive of regulation vs. USC, and two grabs for 60 yards vs. Kent State. And he’s had his share of drops — also against the Trojans and then again last week in Madison, on an almost-certain TD. Overall, as a Nittany Lion he’s made 10 catches for 148 yards, a 14.8-yard average with no touchdowns.
Still, Penn State fans love him.
FLEMING BY THE NUMBERS
| Year | School | Rec. | Yds. | Ave. | TD |
| 2020 | Ohio State | 7 | 74 | 10.6 | 0 |
| 2021 | Ohio State | 12 | 86 | 7.2 | 1 |
| 2022 | Ohio State | 34 | 533 | 15.7 | 6 |
| 2023 | Ohio State | 26 | 270 | 10.4 | 0 |
| 2024 | PENN STATE | 10 | 148 | 14.8 | 0 |
On Saturday, when the No. 3 and No. 4 teams in college football square off in early November on national TV, the moment is bigger than one person. Even when that person is Julian Fleming.
Still, it will be an emotional time for Fleming, who knows scores of the Buckeyes players, as well as head coach Ryan Day and wide receivers coach Brian Hartline. Fleming spent hundreds of hours with many of them, on and off the field. This is what the transfer portal has wrought. And, in Fleming’s case, maybe not in a bad way. He has a second chance less than 100 miles from home. It could be a heartwarming moment, especially if Fleming has a big day and the Nittany Lions win.
WHAT FLEMING SAYS
Last week, Fleming met with the local media. And he spoke in glowing terms of his limited time at Penn State. “It’s been awesome. It was super-welcoming, coming in and some of the relationships I built,” Fleming said. “So up to this point people that are going to be part of my life pretty much forever.”
But, it’s also been a bit of a tough transition, at least on the field. Fleming had just one catch for three yards in Penn State’s first two games of the 2024 season. It has not been easy, he acknowledged.
“The adjustment at first was different, kind of like coming in and being a freshman all over again,” Fleming said. “Kind of trying to re-establish yourself and re-establish that confidence you have in the friendships that you prior had. So that was my first challenge.
“The minimal targets — whatever the first couple games, that’s just kind of how the game goes,” Fleming added. “A lot of teams were playing us a little bit differently than we expected. So, I’m just making an impact any way possible throughout the game. It’s just something I’ve been trying to pride myself on.”
This week, Fleming is not available to the press. Certainly understandable from the PSU football POV. It’s what you would call a distraction for the team and the players. And Fleming, no doubt.
WHAT FRANKLIN SAYS
Given that, I didn’t want the pending multi-layered homecoming of sorts for Fleming to go unnoticed. It’s an important storyline and subplot. So, during Franklin’s press conference on Monday, I asked the head coach what he thinks Saturday’s game means to Fleming.
“Obviously, whenever you play an opponent that a member of our team came from that school, then for me to sit here and say it’s not a big moment and a big game for that individual. It is,” said Franklin, who is 0-4 against Fleming and 7-0 with him. “Obviously, we don’t want to spend time on that. I want Julian and our team to approach it like we do every single week, which every week it’s the most important game we play. We want to refine our process and get better every single week individually and collectively. I want to do that again.”
Franklin praised Fleming, and commented — as he has done in the past — on the maturity, experience and work ethic he has brought to a wide receiver room that was in turmoil last season.
“Julian is a super mature guy. He’s been really good in our locker room,” Franklin said. “I’m very, very proud of him. I’m very glad he’s here. But for us, I don’t want Julian to treat this game any different than how he treated Wisconsin. When I watch Julian, he prepares as hard and as well as anybody. I want him to do that again.
“That’s really it. For me to sit here and say that obviously it’s not a big game for him and his family, it obviously is. I think it’s obviously magnified with him being a kid from Pennsylvania that now is back home with us.”
