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First, the good news:
The rumors among the message board intelligentsia, that Adam Gress had suffered a serious knee injury and would be out for the season, were unfounded. When Bill O'Brien spoke with the media earlier this week, and provided an update on the health of his squad, he noted that Gress had been a full participant in practice and will play on Saturday. The same goes for Ben Kline, Penn State's ultra-important fourth linebacker, who missed all spring after shoulder surgery, and seemed to recover more slowly than anticipated throughout the summer.
There are some players who won't be playing Saturday, though few, if any, were expected to play big roles on the 2013 squad. Brent Wilkerson, still struggling through some back issues, won't see the field any time soon--in traditional BOB fashion, O'Brien refused to give a time frame beyond "a while." Similarly, walk-on wide receiver Deshawn Baker "will return at some point this season," but won't play against Syracuse due to an undisclosed injury; freshman safety Kasey Gaines may take a redshirt, but he's dealing with a hamstring injury that will also ensure he's out tomorrow. Lastly, Brad Bars is out for the year with a torn ACL.
Additionally, although there had been some nagging doubts, Bill Belton has qualified academically, and looks like he might be a secret weapon of sorts in his junior season.
Unfortunately, the same can't be said for Neiko Robinson, who'd practiced all summer with the team before being informed that the NCAA had declared him ineligible after refusing to accept credit for one of his online summer classes. Like Zayd Issah before him, another promising member of Penn State's incoming recruiting class will likely never play a down as a Nittany Lion.
On to the depth chart!
*-denotes player listed on injury report
| Off. | First Team | Second Team | Reserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| HC | Bill O'Brien | ||
| QB | #5 Tyler Ferguson OR | #14 Christian Hackenberg | #17 D.J. Crook |
| RB | #28 Zach Zwinak | #1 Bill Belton | #22 Akeel Lynch |
| FB | #35 Pat Zerbe | -- | -- |
| TE-Y | #18 Jesse James | #84 Matt Lehman | -- |
| TE-F | #87 Kyle Carter | #81 Adam Breneman | -- |
| WR | #8 Allen Robinson | #7 Eugene Lewis | #15 Alex Kenney |
| WR | #85 Brandon Moseby-Felder | #80 Matt Zanellato | #19 Richy Anderson |
| OT | #76 Donovan Smith | #75 Eric Shrive | #59 Andrew Nelson |
| OG | #65 Miles Dieffenbach | #66 Angelo Mangiro | -- |
| OC | #60 Ty Howle | #66 Angelo Mangiro | #55 Wendy Laurent |
| OG | #64 John Urschel | #75 Eric Shrive | |
| OT | #77 Garry Gilliam OR | #58 Adam Gress* |
#75 Eric Shrive |
| Def. | First Team | Second Team | Reserves |
| DE | #86 C.J. Olaniyan | #94 Evan Schwan | -- |
| DT | #84 Kyle Baublitz | #99 Austin Johnson | #88 Tyrone Smith |
| DT | #91 DaQuan Jones | #53 Derek Dowrey | #72 Bian Gaia |
| DE | #18 Deion Barnes | #98 Anthony Zettel | -- |
| OLB | #43 Mike Hull | #38 Ben Kline* | #26 Brandon Bell |
| MLB | #40 Glenn Carson | #8 Gary Wooten | |
| OLB | #5 Nyeem Wartman | #26 Brandon Bell | #46 Adam Cole |
| CB |
#6 Jordan Lucas |
#3 DaQuan Davis | #16 Devin Pryor |
| SS | #4 Adrian Amos | #7 Stephen Obeng-Agyapong | #6 Malik Golden |
| FS | #1 Malcolm Willis OR | #23 Ryan Keiser | #39 Jesse Della Valle |
| CB | #10 Trevor Williams | #12 Jordan Smith OR | #24 Anthony Smith |
| Sp. | First Team | Second Team | Reserves |
| K | #97 Sam Ficken | #37 Chris Gulla | -- |
| P | #45 Alex Butterworth | -- | -- |
| KR | #1 Bill Belton | #22 Akeel Lynch OR | #25 Von Walker |
| PR | #39 Jesse Della Valle | #1 Bill Belton | #25 Von Walker |
| LS | #60 Ty Howle | #40 Glenn Carson | -- |
| H | #23 Ryan Keiser | #45 Alex Butterworth | -- |
More from Black Shoe Diaries:
- Penn State Wrestling Schedule Released
- The Official BSD 2013 College Pick 'Em Pool
- BSD Prediction Roundtable: Syracuse
- Only Bill Belton Until Penn State Football
- BSD's Big Ten Challenge/Thursday Night Open Thread Week 1
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