Penn State OL JB Nelson back at practice ahead of Ohio State
Penn State right tackle JB Nelson is back with the Nittany Lions and practicing. The redshirt junior right guard was spotted practicing with the team on Wednesday evening during the open viewing session for the media.
Nelson was carted off the field three weeks ago against the Northwestern Wildcats but escaped without any sort of long-term serious injury. Penn State head coach James Franklin had noted over the last two weeks that the Nittany Lions were expecting to get the 6-foot-5, 334-pound left guard back at some point this season but made it unclear of what the potential return timeline was for Nelson.
While Nelson's presence at practice on Wednesday isn't a surefire sign that he'll be ready to go for Penn State's matchup against Ohio State on Saturday afternoon in Columbus, it's a sign that Nelson is progressing in the right direction and a return may not be too far away.
In his absence, Penn State had redshirt freshman Olaivavega Ioane fill in at the left guard position. The Washington native has seen extensive snaps over the last three weeks at both the right guard and left guard positions. Ioane played 57 snaps against the Iowa Hawkeyes at the end of September, filling in for a banged up Saleem Wormley in that game before taking over for Nelson against Northwestern, playing an additional 57 snaps.
This past weekend against UMass, Ioane played the most of any Nittany Lions' offensive linemen with 58 snaps. The 6-foot-4, 348-pound Ioane allowed one sack last week against the Minutemen, the only blemish on the offensive line's otherwise strong performance.
The top-10 Nittany Lions are set to take on the top five ranked Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday afternoon in Columbus. The game is scheduled for a noon kickoff.
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