One game down, and only a couple of injuries to note from the actual game. The team will need every healthy body it can get with the Crimson Tide coming into town.
Official Injury List (per Penn State press release)
- Pete Massaro, DE (knee) - out for season
- Garry Gilliam, TE (knee) - out for season
- Pat Zerbe, FB (knee) - out for season
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Mike Farrell, T (knee) - Farrell was the only PSU player that was injured on the field on Saturday, as he sprained his knee. He is listed as "Probable" for Saturday, but that's probably an optimistic assessment. As the first reserve at an important position, Farrell's absence (of unknown duration) will hurt, but it also opens the door for true freshman Donovan Smith, who was apparently turning a lot of heads during camp. However, Adam Gress appears to be taking many of Farrell's snaps.
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Curtis Drake, WR (leg) - Drake warmed up with the team last week and looked good. He was not wearing any sort of bandage or brace on his leg, and was bouncing around with his teammates. He practiced with the team this week, and if healthy, will add another dimension to the offensive playcalling. He is listed as "Doubtful" which is better than "Out" like he was last week.
Other Injury List
- Evan Lewis, PK (hip) - The Great Evan Lewis Experiment may be coming to an end, as the decision to remove Sam Ficken's redshirt in the second half against Indiana State was motivated in part by an injury to Lewis' hip flexor. Well, that and the fact that the kicking game wasn't very good. Lewis and Ficken are listed with the ominous "OR" between their names on the official depth chart.
- Dakota Royer, LB (hamstring) - Royer has been dealing with a hamstring injury for some time, and won't be called upon unless absolutely necessary.
- Andrew Szczerba, TE (head) - Szczerba took a good hit against ISU and has been treated for concussion-like symptoms this week. He's still being held out of practice, and his loss would be hard to overcome, what with an expected steady outside rush from Alabama.
Non-Injury List
- Paul Jones, QB (academics) - Jones remains out of the lineup while dealing with academic issues.
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Stephfon Green, RB; Derick Thomas, CB; Anthony Fera, K (doghouse) - As we wrote about earlier, all three of these players have been practicing with the team and figure to be in the mix for the Alabama game.