Penn State star Abdul Carter wasn’t seen at the media’s viewing window into practice Sunday before the Orange Bowl.
Zach Seyko of Locked On Nittany Lions reported late Sunday afternoon that Carter wasn’t seen. This shouldn’t be a surprise.
Breaking: Star defender Abdul Carter was not seen at Penn State’s open practice session for media.
— Zach Seyko (@zach_seyko) January 5, 2025
Although it’s not yet known whether Carter will play in Thursday’s College Football Playoff semifinal, even if he were to play, it’s possible Penn State kept him away from the media to keep Notre Dame guessing.
In any case, the health of arguably college football’s most dominant defensive player will be a big storyline over the next several days.
THE INJURY
GLENDALE, AZ – DECEMBER 31: Defensive End Abdul Carter #11 of the Penn State Nittany Lions reacts after a big play during the Penn State Nittany Lions versus Boise State Broncos College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl on December 31,2024, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ. (Photo by Kevin Abele/Icon Sportswire)
Penn State football’s best defensive player entered the injury tent during Tuesday’s Fiesta Bowl against Boise State.
It appeared Penn State’s All-American defensive end, Abdul Carter, hurt his left arm.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.He promptly went to the injury tent and came out, helmet in his hand, and went on the exercise bike.
He didn’t return for the rest of the game and was later seen holding the Fiesta Bowl trophy with his right arm.
Abdul Carter reaches for the Fiesta Bowl trophy with his right arm pic.twitter.com/D0d5lMq0Ti
— Audrey Snyder (@audsnyder4) January 1, 2025
PENN STATE NEEDS CARTER
Photo by Matt Lynch, Nittany Sports Now
Point blank, Penn State needs Carter.
Carter is a guy Penn State can’tafford to lose. He became the first Penn State player in almost a decade to reach double-digit sacks (he has 11) and leads in the nation in tackles for loss (22), doing all of it in his first season as a defensive end. Earlier this month ahead of PSU’s first playoff game against SMU, Mustangs’ coach Rhett Lashlee said he was impressed with multiple of Carter’s teammates but agrees with everybody else that Penn State’s latest No. 11 is cut from a different cloth.
“The other couple of ends (Dani Dennis-Sutton and Amin Vanover) are really special. If they didn’t have Abdul, we’d be worried about them. We are worried about them. But Abdul is so dominant,” Lashlee said.“He’s physical, he flies around and makes plays, and then they move him to defensive end this year, and he’s got as good a get-off as anybody in college football. There’sa reason he’s a top-five, top-10 pick in the upcoming draft. And on top of it, our tackles have to deal with the noise of trying to hear the snap count, and so there’s a lot of things in his favor that he doesn’t need, on top of the fact that he’s just probably as talented a pass rusher as there is.
“But that’s not all he is. He’s an all-around player, and what really stands out to me is his motor. He plays the game the right way. You got a lot of respect for how hard he plays. He’ll chase down plays from the backside. So just like we got issues with Tyler Warren and a lot of other guys on their offense, we’vegot some we got our work cut out for us on their defensive front and really their overall team speed on defense.”
