Penn State coach James Franklin offers update on status of receiver Harrison "Trey" Wallace III
Penn State has been without receiver Harrison “Trey” Wallace III for multiple weeks. The Nittany Lions No. 2 receiver at the start of the year, he was hurt in the team’s eventual 33-24 win over Indiana at the end of October. The undisclosed issue occurred early in the game. He was later seen on the home team sideline with his right arm in a sling. He has not been at practice since. But, the third-year member of the program did walk around the Beaver Stadium turf during pregame warmups before the Lions’ loss to Michigan.
On Wednesday, Penn State coach James Franklin offered an update on where things stand with the Alabama native.
“We won’t see him this week [against Rutgers],” Franklin said. “But, I’m not sure after that.”
What’s key, at least for now, is that the head coach did not say that Wallace III is out for the rest of the year. If he were, Franklin would have said so. Whether he can come back for the regular season finale or if the bowl game is a target date is unclear.
Wallace III has been on and off the field in 2023 due to various undisclosed injuries. He has seen time in just six games so far. The Nittany Lion has just 15 catches for 161 yards this fall. And, he has yet to find the end zone. As a whole, the Penn State receivers room has struggled with consistency. It has been one of the biggest problems with the Penn State passing attack and offense in general this season.
“I think we’ve talked about in the off-season the development of that position, depth at that position, trying to find a No. 3 before we ended up losing Trey; then lose Trey, and now it’s back to figuring out who the No. 2 is,” Franklin said.
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“There was a little bit that kind of goes around to a lot of different groups. Yeah, we have talked about that position and the importance of the development, the importance of the recruitment, the importance of the playmaking on a consistent basis.”
Penn State has plan on offense for rest of the regular season
Penn State has co-interim offensive coordinators in Ty Howle and Ja’Juan Seider. How the play calling dynamic will work on game day is not clear. But, both will have a role in it, Franklin said recently. The pair are sharing the duties of fired offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich. He was let go following the Michigan loss, of course.
“Ja’Juan has been here now six years,” Franklin said. “Ty is obviously a lettermen and a grad. Ty has also called plays before. Ja’Juan played quarterback, not only in college but also in the NFL. Has that background as well. Both have recruited and developed positioned that are two of our better positions, so really kind of all those things. I know what I’m going to get from them. I know how collaborative they’re going to be with our staff, and I also think they’re widely respected by the players, and I think that’s an important part of this as well.
“Again, they’re working really good. I think Rutgers is really good on defense, but I think we’ll have a good plan that will put our guys in the best position to be successful.”
