PSU notes: Practice vibe, Ball State player to watch, more

Penn State slugged out a grueling 16-10 win over Wisconsin last Saturday at Camp Randall, but there were no signs of fatigue by Wednesday night as the Nittany Lions repped inside of Holuba Hall.

Another rainy midweek day pushed the Nittany Lions indoors, where head coach James Franklin and his staff worked with their players to continue refining things on offense, defense, and special teams ahead of Saturday's home opener with Ball State.

Earlier in the day, numerous members of the roster met the media on ZOOM, and Franklin chatted with reporters once practice ended. Here are three takeaways from the day.

Reporters were allowed to watch about 20 minutes of practice, and it was more of the same as we've seen in previous weeks. Drills focusing on ball security were going on and position-specific fundamental work was, too.

There's not exactly a ton to glean from those periods, which feature no live-action or scrimmage-like plays. But, what can be taken away is how much energy was flowing through Holuba Hall, and it was noticeable.

Offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich was his usually energizer-bunny self, and other assistants were drilling home techniques of emphasis across the indoor practice facility.

To use an overused phrase, the vibe was good and it was business as usual, which is what it needed to be. The best teams never get too high or too low. Instead, they stay even-keeled after a big win or tough loss and just put in the work to be ready for the next game day, and that's the mindset that the Nittany Lions worked with on Wednesday night.

Almost every college football team has at least one player who can change the game at a moment's notice. For Ball State, that player is Douglasville, Ga., senior Justin Hall.

You'll see him wearing No. 11 in Cardinals colors on Saturday at Beaver Stadium, and the 5-foot-9, 186-pound receiver will line up in the slot, outside, and also as a running back of sorts on jet sweeps. The All-MAC selection in 2020 might even return kicks, too.

In other words, Penn State will need to know where he is before every snap.

"Everybody has, usually on defense or on offense, a couple of guys that you have to be aware of, and you better know where they are on every snap, whether that's a defensive end or whether that is an outside linebacker who blitzes and is in coverage and got great ball skills, or whether that's a running back or wide receiver that's problematic," Franklin said.

"Whether it was, you know, in the past when say Saquan Barkley, people were going to have a plan to stop Saquon Barkley, or at least limit his impact, or KJ Hamler, I could go on and on and on, and it's the same way with him know. As a defense, we better know where he's at on every play, because he's impactful, and what you try to do each week is you try to identify who those guys are and then you try to limit their impact in the game."

In Ball State's opener, Hall caught a team-high eight passes for 137 yards and also rushed four times for 12 yards.

--Earlier today, we published a mailbag that featured a question about Marquis Wilson. The athlete worked with the offense while the media was on hand Wednesday, and with each passing practice, No. 8 looks smoother as a route runner and appears to be trusting what he's learned from receiver coach Taylor Stubblefield, Yurcich, and others. Saturday may not be the day he makes an impact on the offense, but it feels like it's coming.

--Earlier Wednesday, receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith met the media, and he said one big change between last year and now is his ability to stay focused on the task at hand and not let one play impact the next one. Stubblefield talked about seeing that kind of growth in No. 13 during camp, and if Week 1 was any indication, it's working well. We'll have more on KLS here at BWI on Thursday.

--As expected, Jesse Luketa will play defensive end and linebacker on Saturday, Franklin said. He's expected to start inside while Ellis Brooks serves his targeting suspension in the first half, and from there, it's likely that he'll line up almost exclusively along the defensive line.

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