Penn State football once again opened the doors of Holuba Hall to the media this afternoon as the Nittany Lions prepare for their long-awaited return to Beaver Stadium to play in front of a full crowd this weekend.
Allowing the media in - as rain blankets the State College area this afternoon - we were given about 20 minutes toward the front end of practice to take in some of the sights and sounds of the Nittany Lions at work.
We'll have more from James Franklin's session with the media later tonight after we reconvene around 6:30-6:45 (meaning you should start to expect a report from that sometime after 8), but in the meantime, here are some of the immediate news and notes items that stood out to me:
1) This is incredibly limited as a sample size but, I can't help but pass it along:
We were able to catch the tail end of field goal work, with the entire units and Jordan Stout and Jake Pinegar performing under pressure, and the makes were 3-for-3 for Stout and 0-for-1 from Pinegar, who missed the lone attempt we saw to the right.
Take that for what it's worth.
2) James Franklin finished his press conference Tuesday asked about the status of three contributors who were expected to be at Wisconsin but didn't even make the trip in running back John Lovett, defensive tackle Hakeem Beamon, and safety Keaton Ellis.
Franklin's response was that they were unavailable for the game against the Badgers and that it is still "to be determined" if any or all of the three will be available this weekend when the Nittany Lions host Ball State.
If practice is any indication, their appearances Saturday would seem doubtful because none were spotted by me or anyone else at Blue White Illustrated, though we're allowing for the possibility that any of them might have been present but dressed in the number of a scout teamer. Still, even if that's the case, some simple mental math would seem to cast some doubt on whether or not they're going to be available to participate this weekend.
(Edit: Coming back in here to clarify as some of my colleagues *did* at least see Keaton and Lovett, and the assumption would then be the same for Beamon, as at least the first two had scout team numbers on. Point being, whatever prevented them from being available - but still able to practice last week - would appear to be unchanged to this point this week.)
3) We had a question about Marquis Wilson this afternoon for the BWI mailbag that the staff all tried to address between Greg, Dave and myself wondering whether or not there is a path to playing time for him either with the wideouts or back at the cornerback position.
Again, for what it's worth, Wednesday Wilson could be seen getting reps with the wideouts and, also for what it's worth, appeared comfortable and actually even made a few nice receptions. Now, they were throwing/catching on air with no defender the mix, but the point remains the same.
4) I spent most of my time with the offense this afternoon, so the other guys can chime in if they have anything to add from the defensive side of the ball, but one guy who did catch my eye in a "looking ahead" sense was true freshman tight end Khalil Dinkins.
He's listed on the official team roster at 6-4, 226 pounds, but he very much looks the part to my eye. And, while running slants, he made a tough catch on a little bit of a rocket of a pass from quarterback Mason Stahl. The catch earned Dinkins an "attaboy" from offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich.
5) We are expressly prohibited from sharing anything detailed about scheme that we see at any of these practices. And really, now that we're being granted access to the front side of practice when there is little or no actual team work, instead focusing on individual drills during those periods, that protocol isn't especially relevant anyway.
And yet, I'll still pass along that I saw a few things offensively being repped that I hadn't seen last week at Wisconsin.
Vague enough for you? And, if the offense looks *exactly* the same as last weekend at Wisconsin, I'll deny I ever said it.
Still... you know you want me to say it... and I hate to disappoint... so...
WRINKLES!
🤯🤯🤯🤯
******************
That's about that for me from practice, per se, but I'll have more from Franklin's 12 minute session with the media later this evening,
Allowing the media in - as rain blankets the State College area this afternoon - we were given about 20 minutes toward the front end of practice to take in some of the sights and sounds of the Nittany Lions at work.
We'll have more from James Franklin's session with the media later tonight after we reconvene around 6:30-6:45 (meaning you should start to expect a report from that sometime after 8), but in the meantime, here are some of the immediate news and notes items that stood out to me:
1) This is incredibly limited as a sample size but, I can't help but pass it along:
We were able to catch the tail end of field goal work, with the entire units and Jordan Stout and Jake Pinegar performing under pressure, and the makes were 3-for-3 for Stout and 0-for-1 from Pinegar, who missed the lone attempt we saw to the right.
Take that for what it's worth.
2) James Franklin finished his press conference Tuesday asked about the status of three contributors who were expected to be at Wisconsin but didn't even make the trip in running back John Lovett, defensive tackle Hakeem Beamon, and safety Keaton Ellis.
Franklin's response was that they were unavailable for the game against the Badgers and that it is still "to be determined" if any or all of the three will be available this weekend when the Nittany Lions host Ball State.
If practice is any indication, their appearances Saturday would seem doubtful because none were spotted by me or anyone else at Blue White Illustrated, though we're allowing for the possibility that any of them might have been present but dressed in the number of a scout teamer. Still, even if that's the case, some simple mental math would seem to cast some doubt on whether or not they're going to be available to participate this weekend.
(Edit: Coming back in here to clarify as some of my colleagues *did* at least see Keaton and Lovett, and the assumption would then be the same for Beamon, as at least the first two had scout team numbers on. Point being, whatever prevented them from being available - but still able to practice last week - would appear to be unchanged to this point this week.)
3) We had a question about Marquis Wilson this afternoon for the BWI mailbag that the staff all tried to address between Greg, Dave and myself wondering whether or not there is a path to playing time for him either with the wideouts or back at the cornerback position.
Again, for what it's worth, Wednesday Wilson could be seen getting reps with the wideouts and, also for what it's worth, appeared comfortable and actually even made a few nice receptions. Now, they were throwing/catching on air with no defender the mix, but the point remains the same.
4) I spent most of my time with the offense this afternoon, so the other guys can chime in if they have anything to add from the defensive side of the ball, but one guy who did catch my eye in a "looking ahead" sense was true freshman tight end Khalil Dinkins.
He's listed on the official team roster at 6-4, 226 pounds, but he very much looks the part to my eye. And, while running slants, he made a tough catch on a little bit of a rocket of a pass from quarterback Mason Stahl. The catch earned Dinkins an "attaboy" from offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich.
5) We are expressly prohibited from sharing anything detailed about scheme that we see at any of these practices. And really, now that we're being granted access to the front side of practice when there is little or no actual team work, instead focusing on individual drills during those periods, that protocol isn't especially relevant anyway.
And yet, I'll still pass along that I saw a few things offensively being repped that I hadn't seen last week at Wisconsin.
Vague enough for you? And, if the offense looks *exactly* the same as last weekend at Wisconsin, I'll deny I ever said it.
Still... you know you want me to say it... and I hate to disappoint... so...
WRINKLES!
🤯🤯🤯🤯
******************
That's about that for me from practice, per se, but I'll have more from Franklin's 12 minute session with the media later this evening,
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