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What's the latest on injured Penn State defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton?

Greg Pickelby: Greg Pickel10/28/24GregPickel
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Defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton. (Credit: Steve Manuel | Blue White Illustrated)

Penn State junior defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton suffered an injury that caused him to miss all but one play in the second half of last Saturday’s 28-13 win over Wisconsin. The Nittany Lion did walk off the field at Camp Randall Stadium following the game but did so with a limp. He does not have a long-term injury. But, like quarterback Drew Allar, it’s unclear if the defender will suit up this Saturday against Ohio State.

“He’s played a ton of football,” head coach James Franklin said of ‘DDS,’ adding it’s too early to say if he’ll be available. “He’s super mature, very intelligent, he’s thoughtful. Hard working. He’s been in the training room the last two days. Every time I’ve gone down there, he’s down there.

“So, same thing [as Drew]. We’ll go right up the game time to see kind of where we’re at with things. If he’s able to go, he’ll go. But if not, we have, we have a ton of confidence in those other guys as well.”

More: What’s the latest on Drew Allar’s status?

What will Penn State do if Dani Dennis-Sutton is unavailable?

With Dennis-Sutton sidelined for most of the final 30 minutes in Madison, Amin Vanover’s snap count rose to 40, per Pro Football Focus, while Smith Vilbert’s jumped up to 28. It was a season-high for both, and each will be called on again this week if Dennis-Sutton cannot play.

“I was really pleased with those guys,” Franklin said. “You guys heard me talk about Smith a lot, you know, in preseason and right in the beginning of the season, I’m a big fan of his growth and development since he’s arrived on campus, his ability as a football player. I thought he played very well. I thought Amin played very well. Amin’s one of the most physical guys that we have on our team.

“I’m really proud of those two guys. Two guys came from the same high school program. I felt very confident coming into this season that both Smith and Amin were going to have big years, and I still believe that. I think both of those guys are going to play football for a long time.

Besides those two, Penn State freshman Max Granville could be used if needed. He played in his second game of the season at Wisconsin and can play in at least two more regular season games before a decision on burning his redshirt or preserving a year of eligibility would need to be made.

“We’ll be prepared to play Max this week,” Franklin said. “He’s still under the threshold of a redshirting, which we’d like to try to do if we can. But if it comes down to winning, we’re going to do what we got to do to win the game. And Max is on board with that as well.”

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