Printable Penn State football projected depth chart for the Peach Bowl
In many ways, the Penn State football team that graces the Peach Bowl field on Saturday will be different. Nittany Lions’ head coach James Franklin acknowledged as much in the weeks leading into the matchup with Ole Miss.
On the sidelines, Manny Diaz will no longer be the defensive coordinator, now at Duke while Anthony Poindexter has risen into the interim tag for the Nittany Lions and will call the game from upstairs. On the field, defensive end Chop Robinson and cornerback Johnny Dixon chose not to play in this one. And, reasonable assumptions can be made regarding reduced roles for likely high NFL Draft selections Olu Fashanu and Kalen King.
Most pointedly impacted at cornerback, Franklin noted Friday the fallout on the position ahead of the game.
“We’ll play all the other guys that have played this year. They’ll have a more significant role. I think that’s going to be in some ways an opportunity, an exciting opportunity for them and for us,” he said. “Obviously, it’s going to be challenging because the type of wide receivers and offense that we’ll be playing, but these are the guys that we are also going to be depending on next season. So it creates some more opportunities in this game.
“We’ve embraced it with a next-man-up mentality. Again, we’re not the only program that’s dealing with a little bit of this.”
A sophomore season send-off for Drew Allar?
While Penn State grapples with its personnel, the Ole Miss defense has been attempting to do the same in its preparations. Specifically asked about sophomore quarterback Drew Allar this week, coach Lane Kiffin pointed to the strengths shown throughout the season.
“I think he does a phenomenal job of taking care of the ball, first off, and commanding the offense, getting the ball in the right place,” Kiffin said. “When it is not there, breaks it down, does a great job of vertical scrambling and making plays and moving the sticks.
“So those guys are always challenging because they’re going to win a lot of games by the style that they play. They complete with the ball. They don’t turn the ball over, and they don’t make negative plays. So they’ve done a great job.”
A needed boost at WR
Allar and the Penn State passing game could be in line for a big boost with the potential return of receiver Trey Wallace to the lineup. Absent throughout the season for varying injuries, the third-year target has been with the team practicing this week in Atlanta.
“Having Trey back is something the offense needs,” quarterback Drew Allar said. “I think he brings a lot of positivity to that room. He’s a very consistent receiver. Obviously, as we all know, he’s a very explosive receiver vertically.”
However, Allar left the specifics of Wallace’s return unresolved ahead of the game.
“I think he just brings a great work ethic to that room again, now that he’s back healthy,” Wallace said. “But as far as a playing standpoint, that’s a Coach Franklin thing, and I’m not going to — that’s a Coach Franklin and Trey decision, so I don’t have any input on that.”
