Printable Penn State football depth chart: Ohio State week
The time has come. Penn State and Ohio State are set to meet on Saturday afternoon at Ohio Stadium in front of a national audience (noon, FOX).
And, the week of storylines and build-up will finally cede way to actual football.
Whether the Nittany Lions can execute its goals and overcome the Buckeyes remains to be determined. But, throughout the week, head coach James Franklin has both acknowledged Ohio State’s quality as an opponent and the path necessary to earning a win.
“We’re trying to find a way to get a win this week against a really good team, against a program we got tremendous respect for, coaching staff we got a ton of respect for, the talent they have,” Franklin said. “But we approach to the same every single week. Everybody on the outside is talking. We’re approaching it the way we do every single week.
“This is a really important game. Why? Because of how we’ve handed the previous six. If we didn’t handle the previous six the right way you wouldn’t be asking that question. So each week is really important. That’s how we approach it.”
Penn State football availability
Penn State’s approach will of course also be impacted by the players it has available for the game.
After largely missing three weeks of action following the Delaware game, Harrison Trey Wallace played throughout Penn State’s win over UMass last weekend and is again expected back in full on Saturday. However, also in the receiving game, tight end Khalil Dinkins missed last week’s game against the Minutemen.
As for players back in action, Penn State acknowledged the potential for the return of JB Nelson this weekend. Having missed much of the Northwestern game due to an apparent injury, and the UMass game last weekend, the veteran interior offensive lineman was a welcomed returnee at practice on Wednesday afternoon.
Holding off on announcing a definitive return for the left guard, Franklin acknowledged Wednesday evening that he believed Nelson would be back in some capacity.
“Yeah, we’ll see,” Franklin said. “He’s missed a little bit of time. So obviously getting him back, kind of in the mix and greased up and ready to go. The good thing is Vega’s played well. So obviously, we’ll be able to evaluate that throughout the week. I think they’re both going to play. So, we’ll see how it plays out.”
