9/8/2022 football Edit

Penn State vs Ohio: Player availability report

Justin Morganstein • Happy Valley Insider

Staff Writer

Penn State will play its home opener this Saturday as it welcomes Ohio University to Beaver Stadium.

After a close Week 1 win against Purdue, the Nittany Lions are looking to build up some momentum and clean up some things as well in hopes of going 2-0 to start the year.

The same goes for the Bobcats who picked up a win last weekend against FAU at home.

Here is how the two teams come in health and availability-wise early on in the 2022 season.

Penn State

Penn State Absence Report for week two vs Ohio:

POS	Player:	Injury / Reason:	Notes:
TE	Theo Johnson	Undisclosed	Johnson traveled with Penn State to Purdue but did not play in the Nittany Lions 35-31 win. Head coach James Franklin hopes to have Theo Johnson back this week.
DE	Smith Vilbert	Undisclosed	James Franklin did not comment on the reason for Vilbert missing the Purdue game.
DT	Coziah Izzard	Undisclosed	James Franklin did not comment on the reason for Izzard missing the Purdue game.

Penn State once again comes into this game with a relatively healthy and complete roster with just a couple of small storylines to keep track of.

James Franklin said this week that tight end Theo Johnson was able to travel with the team to Purdue last Thursday and is “hopeful” that he could possibly return to action as early as this Saturday.

Johnson had been out due to an undisclosed issue but the Nittany Lions are looking to get him back quickly as he showed plenty of flashes last season and in the camp of being a key contributor for Mike Yurcich’s offense.

But for now, Brenton Strange and Tyler Warren should be able to hold things down just fine for the tight-end room.

Franklin also mentioned in his weekly media availability that the coaching staff would evaluate the performances of PJ Mustipher and Adisa Isaac internally this week but that the two are doing all of the right things to formulate a successful return. Both Mustipher and Isaac sustained season-ending injuries last year.

It wouldn’t be shocking to see some of their snaps limited this weekend in the case that the game is non-competitive in the second half.

Notably, also on the defensive line DE Smith Vilbert and DT Coziah Izzard both missed the Purdue game for an undisclosed reason. James Franklin told the media on Wednesday evening that he "was not ready to make that decision or public announcement."

Ohio Bobcats:

Ohio Injury Report for week two vs Penn State:

POS	PLAYER:	INJURY	NOTES:
RB	Julian Ross	Ankle Injury
RB	O'Shaan Allison	Shoulder injury	OUT FOR SEASON

If Ohio is going to pull off a marquee win on Saturday afternoon, it appears it will do so without another one of its veteran running backs.

Senior Julina Ross went down with an ankle injury in the Bobcats’ three-point win over FAU and will miss a couple of weeks despite X-rays coming back negative.

Sieh Bangura was the lead back in the team’s first game and will once again get the majority of the reps this weekend for Tim Albin’s group.

This is after the injury to Ross and the loss of O’Shaan Allison to a shoulder injury prior to the season.

Aside from the running back room, Ohio will come into this game healthy as well which is obviously critical if the program has any plans of shocking the nation this Saturday at Beaver Stadium.