Could Penn State be starting a true freshman Week 1?
It sounds kinda crazy considering this is a veteran-heavy team that many feel will win the “whole bleeping thing,” to paraphrase Jake Taylor from Major League.
But Chaz Coleman isn’t a normal player.
If the 6-foot-4, 240-pounder were normal, he wouldn’t have impressed James Franklin and the coaching staff to the point where— despite not enrolling until the summer and missing spring practice— he was one of two true freshmen given the “green light” to play right away.
Gimme The Green Light: 2 Penn State Freshmen Have It, At Least 2 More Are Close
Franklin told reporters Wednesday night after practice that Coleman could play quite a bit Saturday against Nevada, and the health of a projected starter could play into that, too.
Franklin didn’t mention Coleman starting, but it sure seems like a possibility.
WHAT JAMES SAID
Head Coach James Franklin at Penn State Football’s 2025 Photo Day.
“I think he’s going to play a lot. I think he’ll play a lot. I think… it would surprise me if he plays 30 plays or so in this game. I hate to say numbers because once I do, he’s seen that, his mom’s seen that, you guys have wrote about it. But that would not surprise me.”
THE HEALTH OF ZURIAH FISHER
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Another factor that could lead to Coleman starting is the health of sixth-year DE Zuriah Fisher.
Franklin said Monday that Fisher was still “working through” an injury that cost him all of the 2024 season.
Two days later, Fisher wasn’t seen by media in its weekly practice viewing window.
Although Coleman doesn’t have any game experience in college football, that hardly makes him unique amongst Penn State’s defensive ends. Aside from veterans Fisher (Year 6) and Dani Dennis-Sutton (Year 4), Penn State doesn’t have a lot of polish at defensive end.
Yvan Kemajou is a true freshman like Coleman. Mylachi Williams and Jaylen Harvey are redshirt freshmen.
So if Fisher can’t go, Coleman is a good bet to start.
“I went around and asked all the freshmen, which I do every year, if they see themselves as red, yellows or greens, in terms of redshirting or playing right away,” Franklin said earlier this month. “And he said he was a yellow, when everybody in the room is kind of looking at him like,‘Dude, you ain’t a yellow.‘ But that’sjust the type of guy he is. He’s been raised well, and he’s got really good genetics, so he’s an exciting one.”
Penn State-Nevada is scheduled for 3:30 at Beaver Stadium on CBS.
