With only a handful of days until Penn State plays its first game of the 2024 season against West Virginia in Morgantown, plenty of starters have been decided.
Although Penn State doesn’t release an official depth chart, everybody who follows the program knows Drew Allar will start at quarterback.
They also know Dani Dennis-Sutton and Abdul Carter will start at defensive end. They know KJ Winston will start at strong safety.
But there are some positions that aren’t settled. One of them is right tackle.
Speaking to media after a fall practice earlier this month, coach James Franklin said there were two players competing for the starting role. They are Wisconsin transfer Nolan Rucci and Anthony Donkoh, who’s back for his second season at PSU.
“Donkoh and Rucci are in a battle,” Franklin said.
Asked about the situation weeks later at his first weekly Monday press conference of the season, Franklin said the two are still battling.
“We feel like the right tackle battle has been healthy and positive in terms of amount of work those two have gotten in,” he said. “As you know, that’s Donkoh and that is Rucci. We feel like both of those guys, we can play with and win with, and think both of those guys will play. I know a lot of times you guys are asking for specific answers at this point, but we haven’t told the players at this point what the rotation is going to be like.”
“That’s usually a conversation for like yourself and a lot of people that have covered us for a while, we usually have that conversation as a staff on Thursday and then have another conversation at the hotel. Obviously, the players at that point would be aware of it as well.
At this point, we’re still practicing and making evaluations to determine rotation. Typically starters, we’re in a pretty good place where we are at.
Franklin said the specific rotation will be “determined based on how they practice this week.”
In any case, Penn State fans should look to see both men get plenty of reps Saturday afternoon in Morgantown.
“I would expect to see a lot of both Anthony and Rucci,” Franklin said.
