Here’s why No. 10 Nittany Lions remain confident despite the loss of star safety KJ Winston

When KJ Winston exited Penn State’s win over Bowling Green with an injury, it wasn’t clear just 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 due to a “long-term” injury, Franklin said. Penn State is losing its big-time safety in a secondary room already depleted with players moving on to the NFL. Redshirt freshman DaKaari Nelson would have been an option, but Nelson, at 6-foot-3, 225-pounds, has outgrown the position and has since moved to linebacker.

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To compensate, senior Jaylen Reed will move to safety to supplement. 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’s also taken the role by storm so far this season, accumulating 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.

True freshman DeJuan Lane has been long-primed to step up and 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 full-time role — at least for now. Franklin also listed freshman Antoine Belgrave-Shorter as a player looking to fulfill the role.

It’s a good deal of shuffling in the immediate, but confidence remains high for a 2-0 Nittany Lions team ready to get back on the field, and will do so against Kent State on Saturday (3:30 p.m., Big Ten Network).

Offensively, Penn State has dealt with injuries too, but it’s a group that has been rolling.

With 34 points in both contests, much of that can be attributed to the run game’s spark.

In Week 1, junior halfback Kaytron Allen caught a 20-yard touchdown pass and ran for 120 yards the following week. Partnering with Nick Singleton in the backfield, a collective that were each other’s substitutions in 2023, but they now often share the backfield in Andy Kotelnicki’s offense. It’s a trait Allen says brings the 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 to his season, getting over the 100-yard mark on the ground in both games and notching a catch in each.

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 necessarily have the top-tier weapons to scare Penn State, but arguably neither did Bowling Green. The Golden Flashes are dead last in yards per game with 201.3. xx running back Ky Thomas could be one of the players to show out for Kent State. The Golden Flashes are his third school, one initially coached by Kotelnicki in 2022. Before transferring to Kent State, Thomas was at Minnesota where he finished with an 824-yard rushing season in 2021.

Regardless of who the Golden Flashes put forward, Penn State senior defensive tackle Coziah Izzard feels strongly that the Nittany Lions will get the job done on Saturday.

“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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