11/17/2022 football Edit

Penn State versus Rutgers - Injury Report

Justin Morganstein • Happy Valley Insider

Staff Writer

Penn State is looking to keep things rolling this weekend as it travels to central New Jersey to take on Rutgers.

While the Nittany Lions had a number of players out with injuries against Maryland, the depth for James Franklin's team stepped up and earned an impressive 30-0 win to move to 8-2 on the season. Rutgers, on the other hand, stumbled for the sixth time in seven games, falling to Michigan State 27-21 despite having over 450 yards of total offense.

As the teams prepare to square off this weekend, there will likely be some key pieces that remain sidelined for both Penn State and the Scarlet Knights in this matchup.

Here is who could be in or out on Saturday.

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Penn State

The story for Penn State continues to be the health issues on the offensive line, starting on the left side.

Left guard Landon Tengwall and left tackle Olu Fashanu remained out against Maryland last weekend with injuries, with both now missing multiple games for their individual health issues.

James Franklin announced last week that Tengwall will be missing the remainder of the season after getting surgery for an undisclosed injury, so Hunter Nourzad will be taking that spot for the final 2-3 games of the year.

But there is some good news as right tackle Caedan Wallace may be returning this weekend after he went through pregame warmups last Saturday and practice on Wednesday.

Despite warming up in uniform, Wallace did not start against the Terrapins but with an extra week of rest under his belt, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him ready to go against Rutgers.

On the defensive side of the ball, Penn State is losing one of its best overall players in Joey Porter Jr. for what seems likely to be a multiple-week absence due to appendicitis.

Franklin said that he is “expecting him back” at some point this year but that will likely have to be in a bowl game scenario with just two regular games remaining on the schedule.

Linebacker Curtis Jacobs is another big question mark heading into this weekend as he missed last week’s game following an injury he sustained in the win against Indiana. He was, however, at practice Wednesday night for the Nittany Lions.

Rutgers

Rutgers comes in with fewer injury questions than Penn State but has already lost a couple of key contributors for the rest of the season.

Start on the offensive side of the ball where the Scarlet Knights are dearly missing running back Samuel Brown V, who is sidelined for the remainder of the season with a foot injury.

The Rutgers running game hasn’t been the same since the freshman running back went down and it has proved to be a massive loss for the offense.

In addition to Brown, tight end Victor Konopka may be lost for the season as well after suffering an undisclosed injury several games ago.

Head coach Greg Schiano said the program does not expect him to be back this year which is yet another big blow for the Scarlet Knight offense.

Center Ireland Brown is also questionable after being knocked out of the game against Michigan State, so yet another offensive starter could be down on Saturday.

On the defensive side, aside from a couple players who are lost for the season, the main concern is the status of linebacker Deion Jennings. Jennings is Rutgers’ leading tackler on the season and has played a pivotal role for the Scarlet Knights who are already struggling defensively. If he is unable to come back from injury, the Penn State offense will likely end up being able to take advantage.