When Penn State coach James Franklin was asked about the status of two players who left Saturday’s 56-0 win over Kent State at his Monday presser, he said it was too early to give any updates.
“I would recommend for you guys to probably save these type of questions until (after practice Wednesday),” Franklin said, “but if you guys want to ask, feel free to ask. I typically won’t have this information for you guys on a Monday, again, because we need to totally evaluate the injuries, and sometimes you’re talking about MRIs and X rays and a ton of things that go into that, and also me to be able to have time to have conversations with them and possibly their families.”
Wednesday came, and Franklin was asked about the status of LB and captain Dom DeLuca and third-string RB Cam Wallace.
Similar to Monday, Franklin said he was “not prepared or ready” to give an update on either player.
DeLuca got hurt in the first quarter of Saturday’s game and didn’t return.
Wallace, after scoring his first college touchdown, had to be carted off the field late in the fourth quarter.
DeLuca has worked his way over the past three seasons into becoming one of Penn State’s leaders on defense and special teams. Penn State named DeLuca a special teams captain before the season and gave him the “No. 0” to signify that he’s the special teams leader. He lived up to that billing, winning the team’s John Bruno Award— named for the late punter on the 1986 national champions— presented to PSU’s top special teams player.
Wallace looked good Saturday in relief of starters Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, gaining 39 yards on nine carries (4.3 yards per carry) and scoring.
Penn State’s already had bad injury luck this season, headlined by a long-term injury to star safety KJ Winston. As always, more injuries are not what the team needs, and worse yet, are crushing to the individual players.
