Hometown players fill voids at linebacker for No. 7 -ranked Penn St.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Being from Happy Valley, with a father and uncles who played football at Penn State, Nathan Stupar grew up a Nittany Lions fan but preferred watching games on television than at Beaver Stadium.

Too hot in the stands. Free food at home.

Things sure have changed.

Stupar now wears blue and white, half of a homegrown linebacking duo for No. 7 Penn State that has their loved ones swelling with pride.

“I guess growing up I enjoyed staying at home and watching the game on TV instead of sitting out in the stands, baking in the hot sun, getting dehydrated,” Stupar said Wednesday.

Now he’s one of the top subs at Penn State, and could make his first college start on the outside if starter Navorro Bowman can’t go Saturday against Syracuse because of a sore right groin.

Penn State didn’t miss a beat in last week’s 31-7 season-opening win over Akron, even with Bowman sidelined most of the afternoon. Stupar filled in with a game-high 12 tackles, including one sack.

Notes of congratulations from high school friends poured in over Facebook and by text message. His proud grandparents cheered in the stands.

“They always dreamed about me coming to Penn State and playing linebacker here,” Stupar said. “They couldn’t be any more happier for me.

The Nittany Lions’ other starting linebackers are captain Sean Lee, the western Pennsylvania native who plays the other outside position; and Josh Hull, the senior middle linebacker who hails from a small town about 30 minutes east of Beaver Stadium.

There, in Millheim, a blue-and-white sign sits along the highway, in front of the farmer’s market pavilion next to the American Legion post, honoring their native son.

“Millheim Pride” it proclaims in bold letters, along with Hull’s jersey No. 43.

Hull and Stupar aren’t Penn State’s best linebackers — those accolades are reserved for Lee and Bowman, a pair of All-American candidates.

Stupar’s family has already given him sage advice about the pressure that surrounds Penn State football.

Stupar said it was his father, Steve, who offered him the best counsel. Steve Stupar was a lineman for Paterno from 1976-79.

“He told me not to be the next Dan Connor, [Paul] Posluszny or Sean Lee. He told me to be the next Nathan Stupar.”