The latest as the Ohio State game approaches

Penn State quarterback Drew Allar practiced on Wednesday, but a decision will be made during Saturday’s game against Ohio State. Nittany Lions coach James Franklin told reporters Wednesday after practice in State College that he had “no new information” on Allar’s status with the national team. top-five game at Beaver Stadium.

“There is no new information at this stage, … but so far everything is good and (we have) both Beau (Pribula) and Drew getting plenty of reps in practice,” Franklin said.

Penn State will publicly name its starting quarterback until its game against the fourth-ranked Buckeyes. Allar, injured Penn State won 28-13 against Wisconsinthrown as part of Wednesday’s portion of practice, which was open to the media. Franklin said most of the practice reps this week went to Allar and Pribula.

Earlier in the week, Franklin said Allar’s experience as a two-year starter would give the coaching staff more time to determine whether the starting quarterback would be available to play Saturday. Allar wore a knee brace on the bench in the second half of the game against Wisconsin when Pribula ran for two touchdowns.

“I think he’s played enough football for us that this schedule will go all the way to the game,” Franklin said of Allara. “…But the reality is that we’ll both have to be ready.”

Elsewhere, reporters did not get a window view of defender Dani Dennis-Sutton, who has played in all seven games this season. Dennis-Sutton was also injured in the first half against Wisconsin, played only once in the second half and did not return to the field. He is a key player on the Nittany Lions’ defensive line, with four tackles for loss, two sacks and two quarterback hurries this season.

Penn State is also trying to keep tackle Anthony Donkoh healthy ahead of Saturday’s game. Donkoh, injured in Wisconsin, surrendered Nolan Rucciwho played a season-high 49 snaps against his former team.

I expect more from the return game

Penn State, which averages 26 yards on the field, wants to increase that number. The problem is that his return play didn’t generate much. The Nittany Lions have only recorded nine kickoff returns in seven games, so they want to gain yards on punt rebounds. But they also want to secure the catch first.

Cornerback Zion Tracy took over after receiver Kaden Saunders was injured and gained 14 yards on six returns. Against Wisconsin, he had an 18-yard return called because his knee went down.

“We had some musical chairs there, trying to find this guy,” Franklin said. “Zion did good things, (Liam) Clifford did good things. … You would like to field more balls and play more aggressively, but most importantly, we didn’t drop the ball in this category. I ticked that box great. Now we need to take the next step and start catching more of them and returning more of them.”

The story of Penn State’s top five finishes

Saturday’s game is the 12th in Penn State history to feature top five teams. Penn State is 4-7 in previous games. The last time was in 2021, when No. 3 Iowa defeated the fourth-ranked Nittany Lions 23-20 in Iowa City. Penn State’s last top-five win came in 1999, when the No. 3 Nittany Lions defeated No. 4 Arizona 41-7 to open the season. Penn State and Ohio State have faced each other once as top-five opponents. No. 3 Ohio State won the 1996 game against No. 4 Penn State 38-7.

Penn State hosts Ohio State on Saturday at noon ET on FOX.

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