Here’s why No. 10 Nittany Lions remain confident despite the loss of star safety KJ Winston
Both sides of the ball are dealing with injuries; however, the Nittany Lions are confident in their goal of remaining in the Top 10 even with key deficiencies
When KJ Winston exited Penn State’s win over Bowling Green with an injury, it wasn’t clear how bad it was. Winston remained on the sideline and, in the aftermath of a bye week, has continued to be a leader. But on Wednesday, head coach James Franklin confirmed just how bad Winston’s injury is.
The No. 10-ranked Nittany Lions will be without their star junior safety indefinitely because of a “long-term” injury, Franklin said. Penn State is losing its big-time safety in a secondary already depleted with players having moved on to the NFL. Redshirt freshman DaKaari Nelson would have been an option, but, at 6-foot-3, 225 pounds, he has outgrown the position and moved to linebacker.
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To compensate, senior Jaylen Reed will move to safety. Reed played in defensive coordinator Tom Allen’s “Lion” role — a hybrid nickelback with responsibilities at all levels of the defense — and is most equipped to take on the responsibility. He has also taken the role by storm, with 19 tackles and two pass deflections over the first two games. The Nittany Lions also have junior Cam Miller, who typically plays as an outside cornerback, as another option.
DeJuan Lane has long been primed to take a big role on the Penn State defense, and now it will become a reality. Still, Lane is a freshman and it seems that he won’t be able to take on the role full time — at least for now. Franklin also listed freshman Antoine Belgrave-Shorter as a player looking to fill the role.
It’s a good deal of shuffling, but confidence remains high for a 2-0 Nittany Lions team ready to get back on the field against Kent State on Saturday (3:30 p.m., Big Ten Network).
Keeping a ‘dangerous’ run game
The Penn State offense has dealt with injuries too, but it has been rolling.
The Nittany Lions scored 34 points in both wins, with much of the spark from the run game.
In Week 1, junior halfback Kaytron Allen caught a 20-yard touchdown pass and the following week ran for 120 yards. He shares the backfield with Nick Singleton, a setup that he says brings coordinator Andy Kotelnicki’s offense “great confidence.”
When the two are in the backfield together, it spells one thing for Allen.
“It’s dangerous,” Allen said. “You don’t know who will get the ball.”
Singleton has also had a stellar start, getting over the 100-yard mark on the ground in both games and notching a catch in each.
Ready for Kent State
It would be easy for players to lose confidence after a disastrous first-half performance against Bowling Green. However, veteran linebacker Tyler Elsdon said they remain confident and look forward to proving so against Kent State (0-2).
Kent State doesn’t have the top-tier weapons to scare the Lions, but arguably neither did Bowling Green. The Golden Flashes are dead last in yards per game with 201.3. Running back Ky Thomas could be one of the players to show out. Kent State is his third school. Before transferring, Thomas was at Minnesota, where he finished with 824 yards rushing in 2021.
Regardless of whom the Golden Flashes put forward, Penn State senior defensive tackle Coziah Izzard feels strongly that the Nittany Lions will get the job done.
“They run a lot of seal and divide, pretty decent run game,” Izzard said. “But, I don’t think that’s [anything] we can’t handle.”
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