James Franklin shares latest on Trey Wallace's status

Penn State wide receiver Harrison ‘Trey’ Wallace has been having a solid 2023 campaign. But the remainder of this season may be in jeopardy following an injury he suffered against Indiana. When asked whether or not Wallace would be good to go in Penn State’s Week 12 matchup against Rutgers, head coach James Franklin couldn’t offer much on the situation but did confirm his sophomore wide receiver status for Saturday.

“Yeah, we won’t see him this week. But I’m not sure after that,” said Franklin.

Wallace has had a quiet but solid year for Penn State in 2023. Amongst the Nittany Lions receivers, he comes in third in all three main statistical receiving categories, only behind Dante Cephas and KeAndre Lambert-Smith, with 15 catches for 161 yards.

It has been a quiet year for Penn State wide receivers in 2023. Still, losing Wallace’s services could be significant, as the Nittany Lions are currently in the midst of a transition offensive coordinator after letting go of Mike Yurich. Penn State will be without Wallace’s services this Saturday comment, but the jury is still out for the final game of the season at Michigan State on Friday, November 24.

What changes for Penn State with new offensive coordinators

On a recent episode of the Andy Staples On3 Podcast, the college football expert brought in a Penn State inside man from Blue White Illustrated, Sean Fitz. The two discussed several key storylines surrounding the program. But arguably, the most prominent topic Fitz and Staples discussed was Penn State’s recent move at offensive coordinator.

Franklin fired offensive coordinator Mike Yurich following another abysmal performance by the Nittany Lions against a top-tier opponent. In his place, running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider and tight ends coach Ty Howle will assume the play-calling duties. But what exactly was Penn State’s motive for making the move with just two games left in the season? According to Fitz, there were a number of things in play when this decision was made.

“Rutgers does have a good defense. I think, kind of a flip side of what we just saw with Michigan is I don’t know if Penn State fears Rutgers scoring a ton of points,” said Fitz. “But you never know what can happen; it’s November in the Big Ten.

“It’s a situation where you’re not going to change the offense in two weeks or whatever they have. But I think you feel like they made this move because you just got to get a jump start on the next guy, but also because these next two defenses are not going to threaten you in the sense that Michigan and Ohio State are going to.”