Penn State Football

Injuries: Key Penn State Player Out Long-Term

Published

November 25, 2024

WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - NOVEMBER 16: Penn State Nittany Lions offensive lineman Anthony Donkoh (68) lines up before the snap during the college football game between the Purdue Boilermakers and Penn State Nittany Lions on November 16, 2024, at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, IN. (Photo by Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire)

Penn State football lost one of its starters Saturday at Minnesota and coach James Franklin confirmed during his weekly presser Monday that OL Anthony Donkoh will be out long-term.

Donkoh, a 6-foot-5, 330-pound redshirt freshman who won the starting right tackle job over veteran Nolan Rucci during fall camp, had to be carted off the field on Penn State’s first series.

Considering PSU has one regular-season game left plus a likely College Football Playoff berth, there’s a chance Donkoh has played his last snap of the 2024 season. If that’s so, than PSU has lost a key part of its offense.

WHAT PENN STATE IS LOSING

Penn State Anthony Donkoh loves playing football under Andy Kotelnicki’s scheme.

ATLANTA, GA – DECEMBER 30: Penn State Nittany Lions offensive lineman Anthony Donkoh (68) during the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl between the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Mississippi Rebels on December 30, 2023 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire)

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Donkoh has been Penn State’s best run blocker per Pro Football Focus with a grade of 76.9. By comparison, Rucci, who replaced Donkoh against Minnesota and is set to start in Saturday’s season finale against Maryland at Beaver Stadium, has a run-blocking grade of 58.9. Donkoh also improved his pass blocking as the season went on. After a shaky outing against USC in which he allowed two pressures and had a pass blocking grade of 36, Donkoh didn’t allow any pressures in the five games since and never had a pass blocking grade below 70.3.

WHO IS REPLACING HIM?

The good news for Penn State is that the guy who is slated to replace Donkoh has a lot of experience under his belt, both in college football and for PSU this season. Rucci played at Wisconsin for three seasons before transferring to Penn State over the winter. This season, he’s played in all 11 games and has played 20 or more snaps five times. Against Minnesota, he played a season-high 59 snaps. Pro Football Focus wasn’t kind to him, giving him a grade of 47.1.

Penn State and Maryland are scheduled to kickoff at 3:30 on the Big Ten Network.