Depth Chart and Injury Report: Pinstripe Edition

After a long season, plenty of Nittany Lions were surely banged up--but it was the loss of Brandon Bell the last two weeks that hurt the most, playing no small role in Penn State's limp to the finish line. By all accounts, Bell will be back on the field tomorrow, the headliner in a group that should be feeling a bit healthier after a month without a game--a group that hell, might include Christian Hackenberg, too. Of course, if anyone managed to hurt themselves during the bowl practices, we won't find out about it until after the game tomorrow, but by all accounts, Penn State will be as healthy as it's been all season--or at least, since the season-ending injuries to Zach Zwinak and Ryan Keiser.

Oddly, James Franklin has used the bowl break to trim some of the fat on the depth chart--where, in weeks past, it would list up to five or six players at any given position, now it's mostly only the two-deep, with a few reserves listed at deeper positions. Perhaps Franklin's waiting to use the likes of Cole Chiappalle and DeShawn Baker as secret weapons. At least now, we don't have to pretend that the redshirting freshmen might actually see the field. Either way, it looks like Franklin's really taking that "41 scholarships" mantra to heart, and is using the depth chart to dig in his heels.

Given his pending transfer, Michael O'Connor finds himself left off the depth chart, replaced by de-facto-anyway backup D.J. Crook.

*-denotes walk-on