Printable Penn State football depth chart: Iowa week
Penn State football emerged from its first three weeks with three wins. Now, the Nittany Lions are hoping to clear their biggest hurdle yet.
Welcoming Iowa to Beaver Stadium on Saturday night (7:30, CBS), Penn State is aiming to continue its streak of success. Can the Nittany Lions use their home field advantage to top the similarly unbeaten Hawkeyes?
According to Penn State head coach James Franklin, the outcome won’t be dictated by the environment. Rather, needing to perform well, the Nittany Lions’ path to victory is straightforward.
“We are very appreciative of having one of the best environments in all of sports, and we’re very appreciative of the White Out and what it means for this community and the state, really for college football,” Franklin said. “I want our players and our fans to take 30 seconds in the beginning and take it all in, but after that it’s all about execution. Whether it’s an Orange Out, a Black Out, a White Out, at the end of the day it’s going to come down to football and executing plays and playing well.”
Penn State personnel movement
Given three weeks to shake out its roster, the Nittany Lions’ depth chart could be as robust as ever this weekend.
Three important returns to action occurred last weekend, welcoming Coziah Izzard, Amin Vanover, and Daequan Hardy back. The three players, absent from the first two weeks for unspecified reasons, all played at Illinois.
While Hardy picked off the Illini, and Vanover helped spell Penn State’s defensive end rotation, Izzard proved to also be an impactful addition for the weekend. Maybe more important, his continued performance will be important moving forward.
“I think he did some good things. A you guys know, he’s big, strong, powerful. He’s athletic, he’s quick. Made some mistakes and things that we got to knock the rust off with,” Franklin said of the Penn State DT. “But, overall, I thought he played well. He gives us another legitimate defensive tackle inside, which is a position that’s challenging to develop depth at.
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“I think he has a chance to be special. He just needs more reps and more experience, but it was great. It was great having him back.”
Wallace back in action?
Whether or not the same can be said for Harrison Wallace remains to be seen. Able to warm up in Champaign, the Nittany Lions’ receiver was held out for what Franklin described as medical reasons.
Updating the redshirt sophomore’s status this week, Franklin left open the door for Wallace’s return against the Hawkeyes.
“I don’t think it was that he wasn’t cleared to play,” Franklin said. “He wasn’t cleared in a way that we felt like he was going to be productive… There’s a difference between being cleared, and you can go out and do it, but you’re not at your best right now.
“So, if we have the ability to wait a week, to hopefully get them there, that’s what we’d like to do. And, that’s really kind of what happened last week, to describe it in a little bit more detail.”
