At the beginning of coach Penn State coach James Franklin’s weekly presser Monday, he said he expects to have three players back.
Although Franklin didn’t give a specific timeline, this is encouraging news.
The players are LB and captain Dom DeLuca, starting RG Sal Wormley and CB Jalen Kimber.
DeLuca got hurt early in Penn State’s 56-0 win over Kent State more than a week ago and missed this past Saturday’s 21-7 win over Illinois as a result. Wormley and Kimber each left the Illinois games with injures. Wormley is the only Penn State OL who started every game last season and returned this season.
“I don’t have a whole lot more information than that right now,” Franklin said. “Obviously, they have was Saturday, Sunday is a jog through, Monday’s the off day, so we expect those guys back, but the information for you right now.”
Kimber is in his first season at Penn State and has seen a lot of playing time thus far.
Last year, Kimber started 11 of Florida’s 12 games and played in all 12. He ended the season with 23 tackles (18 solo), a fumble recovery, five pass breakups and a quarterback hurry. Kimber entered the transfer portal in December 2023 and committed initially committed to Louisville. 12 days later, he flipped his commitment to Penn State and ended up signing.
Per ProFootball Focus, Kimber played 488 snaps for Florida in 2023, the fifth most on the defense. He ended the season with a PFF grade of 69.3.
Penn State is currently 4-0 and ranked No. 7 in the country. The next step is this Saturday against UCLA at Beaver Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for noon on Fox.
