How will recent injuries affect Penn State in the second half of 2023?
The Penn State Football team is 5-0 heading into the critical second half of its 2023 season. With battles against Ohio State and Michigan looming in the coming weeks, we’re discussing what the staff is likely working on to improve its team before those games.
Today, on the Keystone Kickoff Show, presented on the Blue White Illustrated YouTube Channel, we’re discussing what the team worked on during the bye week and what they need to improve to be a complete team.
Join the show today at 10 a.m. on YouTube as we answer fans questions and explain where the team’s strengths lie on the roster. We’ll discuss the Penn State passing game and Trey Wallace’s absence affecting the team dynamic. We’ll also explain how the defense has turned into a suffocating unit.
Will Penn State offense be whole coming out of the bye?
So, what’s wrong with the Penn State passing game? Penn State head coach James Franklin was fairly blunt about the inconsistency issues.
“I think that’s where — that’s been probably impacted as much as anything is when you really have two guys that have played a ton of football for you at the receiver position and there being some consistency and trust in practice and in games with those guys, and then you lose one of them for a couple of weeks, that magnifies that.
Being able to have Trey [Wallace] back and KeAndre [Lambert-Smith] on the field while those other guys are developing those roles and those opportunities and that confidence, I think will be helpful.
But I think getting Trey back is a huge piece of that puzzle,” Franklin said.
But the team isn’t just dealing with an injury at receiver. Offensive lineman JB Nelson is the second left guard to go down this year after he left the game against Northwestern and didn’t return. Can Penn State sustain its level of play up front if he misses more time?
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Defensive line turning the corner?
The Penn State defense has been suffocating over the last month of the season, thanks largely to an improvement up front. We’ll discuss how the team’s defensive tackles have taken strides to improve, not just as athletes but as football players. It’s a sentiment Franklin backed up yesterday.
“We want our guys to be lean and athletic, but more importantly, they’re playing in a way that they’re so disruptive. We’re more consistently gap sound. We’re more consistently disruptive.
I know Manny [Diaz] and Deion [Barnes] have been very pleased as we sit in there — I watched the game typically on the ride home on the plane and then I watch it typically in the morning and then I watch it with the defense, and just hearing them talk about the defense and how we’re playing, guys doing their job on a consistent basis.
But they’re also playing bigger in terms of being disruptive and being gap-sound and doing their jobs on a consistent basis,” Franklin said.
