Penn State’s offensive line injuries are beginning to mount.
James Franklin announced Tuesday that senior Paris Palmer is out for the rest of the year after injuring his knee in a 45-31 win against Indiana. Palmer started for much of the 2015 season but began this year as PSU’s third tackle. However, when Andrew Nelson suffered a season-ending knee injury in early October, Palmer moved back into a starting role.
With Palmer at left tackle, other starter Brendan Mahon slid over to right tackle until he went down with an undisclosed injury on Nov. 5 against Iowa. With Mahon out, redshirt sophomore Chasz Wright moved up to the first-team at right tackle opposite Palmer.
When Palmer went down against the Hoosiers, redshirt freshman left guard Ryan Bates moved over to tackle. Palmer wasn’t the only lineman to get injured vs. IU. True freshman Connor McGovern, the team’s starter at right guard, also left the game with an injury. Those injuries forced senior Derek Dowrey, who McGovern replaced in the starting lineup early in the year, and redshirt freshman Steven Gonzalez to be pressed into action at guard. It was the first significant action of Gonzalez’s career.
Franklin, who usually does not offer much detail about injuries, said Tuesday that it’s “too early in the week” to make a determination on McGovern’s status. He also did not characterize Mahon’s status as out for the year. The program confirmed Mahon was hospitalized last week but hasn’t offered anything else about his injury.
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Per Blue White Illustrated, the PSU coaching staff has discussed possibly removing the redshirts of freshmen Will Fries and Michal Menet, both of whom were four-star recruits.
“I did bring Michal Menet and Will Fries into my office. That conversation went really well,” said Franklin. “Those young men and their families are perfectly comfortable with doing what we have to do to win and put the team first.”
To prepare the two for possible game action at Rutgers on Saturday, Menet and Fries will move up from the scout team during practice this week, Franklin said.
“We are not at this point doing anything. Will Fries would be the guy a little bit closer to Michal Menet,” Franklin said. “Menet could play tackle but he’s probably more suited inside than outside. You’d love to be able to keep those guys as redshirts if you possibly can. So those guys will be up with varsity and get a bunch of reps.”
The Nittany Lions have won six games in a row and are firmly in the mix for the Big Ten East title. With the division’s two worst teams, Rutgers and Michigan State, left on the schedule, PSU has a very good chance to get to 10 wins. If PSU takes care of business in those two games and Ohio State beats Michigan in two weeks, PSU would play in the Big Ten Championship Game.
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With that said, the team’s offensive line health will play a fairly big role in its success moving forward. There were struggles against Indiana with Saquon Barkley rushing for just 60 yards on 33 carries, but he did manage to reach the end zone twice in the fourth quarter to help PSU notch a comeback win.
A week of practice and a game against a bad team like Rutgers could result in a bit more cohesion for the unit.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/with-p...es-are-mounting-for-penn-state-200314050.html
