Tag: Harrison Wallace III

Penn State back in familiar territory as transfer portal opens again

Another spring leads to another search in the transfer portal for wide receiver help for Penn State.

In what has seemingly become a bit of a springtime tradition for Penn State’s football program, the transfer portal has opened and the Nittany Lions are looking for some help at wide receiver. For the third offseason in a row, one of Penn State’s biggest needs just so happens to be at wide receiver and the transfer portal is the most likely place to find some help.

Two years ago, Penn State was looking to find some help at the receiver position following Jahan Dotson’s decision to enter the NFL draft. That resulted in the addition of Mitchell Tinsley from Western Kentucky. A year later, with Tinsley making his way to the NFL alongside Parker Washignton, James Franklin and his staff searched high and wide for help at the receiver position in the transfer portal and landed Dante Cephas from Kent State and Malik McClain from Florida State. Unfortunately, neither addition managed to impact the offense much, and the passing attack was a weak spot for the Nittany Lions throughout the 2023 college football season.

And here we are once again. The spring transfer window opened up on Monday, two days following Penn State’s spring game, and Penn State’s leading receiver from last season decided to make his way to the transfer portal to explore his potential options. KeAndre Lambert-Smith opted to enter his name in the portal after seemingly suggesting he would return to the program earlier in the offseason. But despite Penn State making moves to bring in a new offensive coordinator, Lambert-Smith felt it was best for him to see what else could be out there for him.

He is not alone, of course. Cephas, after just one season in Happy Valley, made a move to Kansas State in the previous transfer window. Cristian Driver also jumped into the transfer portal and landed with another Big Ten program, Minnesota. Penn State is in jeopardy of losing its third wide receiver to a transfer since the end of the 2023 season.

Of course, Penn State has already found some help in the transfer portal with Julian Fleming committing to Penn State following a few seasons with Ohio State. But Penn State has swung and missed on a number of wide receiver transfers in the past couple of years, putting more pressure on Franklin and wide receiver coach Marques Hagans to find some quality help.

Wide receiver has consistently been one of the most frustrating positions under James Franklin. With a few notable exceptions, like Jahan Dotson and Chirs Godwin, Penn State has struggled to keep some of its best receivers in place (Justin Shorter and Juwan Johnson, for example) or get receivers to develop quickly into formidable assets for the passing game. There seemed to be a lack of development with some of the younger receivers in 2023, although it is worth mentioning [autotag]Harrison Wallace III[/autotag] was sidetracked by injury issues. And the spring game this year didn’t exactly suggest anyone is jumping all over the chance to be the next breakout star. Then again, it is sometimes unwise to overreact to anything we do or do not see in a spring game, especially with a new offensive coordinator.

Expect Penn State to be in hot pursuit of some of the top receivers in the transfer portal. In a year of big changes in college football and the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams, the race is on to field a team fully capable of crashing into one of those top 12 spots. If the biggest missing piece for Penn State is explosiveness in the passing game, then finding answers in the transfer portal is essential for success.

Check out our transfer portal tracker for an updated look at every Penn State player in the transfer portal, who is leaving, and who is coming in.

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Penn State’s leading receiver poised to return for the 2024 season

Penn State’s leading receiver shared a social media post seemingly suggesting he has made up his mind for the 2024 season.

The wide receivers were Penn State’s worst position group throughout the 2023 season. It never seemed to completely click between the receivers and starting quarterback [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag]. No pass catcher surpassed the 700-yard mark or 53 receptions.

Yesterday evening, Penn State’s leading receiver from a season ago, [autotag]KeAndre Lambert Smith[/autotag], posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), giving a shoutout to Penn State’s NIL collective, Happy Valley United. Although this is technically not an explicit declaration of returning to State College, it does seem that the post, plus no announcement from Lambert-Smith about NFL draft plans, points to a return.

With former Ohio State wide receiver and former 5-star recruit [autotag]Julian Fleming[/autotag] also now in the fold, the wide receiver room seems to be trending in the right direction. Lambert-Smith caught 53 passes for 673 yards and four touchdowns. The return of ‘KLS’ adds to the veteran leadership presence to mentor the younger guys like [autotag]Harrison Wallace III[/autotag] and [autotag]Omari Evans[/autotag].

Consistency will be key up and down the depth chart, but no doubt new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelenicki will count on Lambert-Smith and others to produce far better than last year. The receiver group will definitely be a position to watch throughout spring ball and as the season approaches.

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5 takeaways from Penn State’s brutal loss to Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl

5 takeaways from Penn State’s brutal loss to Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl

It was a day to forget for the Nittany Lions, who came to Atlanta looking for a statement win, but it turned into a statement 38-25 loss to the Ole Miss Rebels. It was a struggle in all phases for Penn State, who couldn’t stop the run, the pass, and even had a fourth-quarter field goal attempt blocked.

Despite starting the game with a positive field goal drive and a few good runs, the offense never got into a rhythm. [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] and the passing game struggled mightily, only hitting on a big play on a fluke-tipped pass to Tyler Warren for 75 yards, which ironically ended up being Penn State’s longest play of the season.

The defense, missing its top two corners and best edge defender, was no match for the up-tempo explosive offensive that is the Rebels. Ole Miss had its way running and throwing the football, dicing up the Penn State secondary every which way.

It will be interesting to see how the Nittany Lions rebound from a now 3 loss season. All three losses will have happened against top-11 opponents where the Penn State offense looked absolutely anemic. No matter the fallout, Drew Allar and new offensive coordinator [autotag]Andy Kotelnicki[/autotag] will have an enormous amount of pressure on themselves to improve the offense going into next year.

After an all-around pathetic performance, here are five takeaways from Penn State’s Peach Bowl loss to Ole Miss.

Peach Bowl dud ends Penn State’s season with 38-25 loss to Ole Miss

Penn State’s frustrating season ended with a blowout loss to Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl.

A year after celebrating a bowl victory in a shower of rose petals, Penn State’s end to the 2023 season was anything but peachy. Penn State was dominated by Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl and ended the year with a stinker in a 38-25 loss in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Saturday afternoon. The Nittany Lions defense was shredded by Ole Miss, which took advantage of favorable matchups in the passing game all afternoon in Atlanta.

Penn State struck first with a field goal by [autotag]Alex Felkins[/autotag] from 26 yards on their first offensive series of the game. That came after the defense forced a quick three-and-out against the Ole Miss defense to start the game, which led to Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart heading to the medical tent at the end of the brief possession.

Penn State may have caught some breaks on the ensuing Ole Miss possession. After the Rebels entered the red zone, officials blew dead what could have been a live ball for an Ole Miss touchdown due to a whistle for an offside penalty on Penn State. The Rebels had to settle for a field goal after officials missed another potential penalty on Penn State on the following snap.

Both teams scored twice in the second quarter with Penn State scoring a pair of touchdowns with a touchdown pass from [autotag]Beau Pribula[/autotag] to [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag] and a [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] pass to [autotag]Theo Johnson[/autotag]. But the half ended with Penn State trailing by a score of 20-17 after giving up 340 yards of offense to the Rebels. And of the 115 passing yards Allar had at the half, 75 of them came on one play at the end of the first quarter when [autotag]Tyler Warren[/autotag] caught a pass and ran for a big gain.

Dart had gotten in a rhythm with his passing and gashed a Penn State defense playing without its top two defensive backs and top defensive end, and a defense that took some injuries at linebacker in the first half to [autotag]Kobe King[/autotag] and [autotag]Abdul Carter[/autotag]. Dart connected six times in the first half with tight end Caden Prieskorn, twice for a touchdown and three times for a first down, and five times with star wide receiver Tre Harris, each time for a first down.

The third quarter was a disaster for Penn State. The offense went three-and-out on all three third-quarter possessions. Meanwhile, the Rebels just continued to take advantage of its tempo to leave the Penn State defense scrambling and unable to catch up. Ole Miss added 10 points to its halftime lead and took a 31-17 lead into the fourth quarter. At that point, the game was all but decided as Penn State’s threat of a comeback was thwarted with a blocked field goal that led to an Ole Miss touchdown run by Dart to put the game well out of reach at 38-17. A late touchdown pass from Allar to [autotag]Harrison Wallace III[/autotag] cut into the Ole Miss lead, but was too little, too late.

Penn State played the Peach Bowl without some key players who opted out of the game with an eye toward their NFL futures. Penn State was without offensive lineman [autotag]Olu Fashanu[/autotag], defensive end [autotag]Chop Robinson[/autotag], and cornerback [autotag]Kalen King[/autotag]. All three could be potential first-round draft picks in the 2024 NFL draft. Penn State was also without [autotag]Manny Diaz[/autotag], who left his position as defensive coordinator to become the head coach at Duke. The defense looked disorganized, which should have been expected given the absences from what was rated one of the top defensive units of the season. But the offensive struggles were nothing new for the roster, and there was no evidence of finding ways to change things up in the bowl game.

Penn State will now look forward to the 2024 college football season, which will be quite an interesting year for the Big Ten and the entire college football landscape. Penn State will open the 2024 season on the road at West Virginia on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. The Big Ten will also welcome four new members in Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington, and Penn State will face each of them except for Oregon. The College Football Playoff will also expand to 12 teams next season, making it easier than ever for the Nittany Lions to get into the playoff mix in the playoff era. Well, if they can patch up the offense at all between now and next fall.

Penn State’s spring game, the Blue-White Game, is scheduled for Saturday, April 13, 2024.

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Penn State player availability report for Rutgers released

Penn State has officially ruled out wide receiver Harrison Wallace III vs. Rutgers.

As expected, Penn State will be in pretty good shape when it comes to its player availability for the regular season home finale on Saturday afternoon. Penn State will only be missing one key player that wasn’t already accounted for this season, and head coach James Franklin already confirmed that news earlier in the week.

Wide receiver [autotag]Harrison Wallace III[/autotag] was officially ruled out of action on Saturday morning according to the Big Ten-mandated player availability report for the Nittany Lions. Wallace was injured in late October against Indiana and has not been on the field since that point in time. It remains unknown at this time, at least publicly, whether he will be able to return to the field next week in the regular season finale against Michigan State in Detroit.

Here is a look at the updated player availability report for Penn State for this afternoon’s game against Rutgers.

OUT

  • Harrison Wallace III
  • [autotag]Tyler Johnson[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Tyler Holzworth[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Feyisayo Oluleye[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Jashaun Green[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Joey Palko[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Liam Powers[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Jim Fitzgerald[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Jason Estrella[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Smith Vilbert[/autotag]

QUESTIONABLE

  • [autotag]Ibrahim Traore[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Alex Birchmeier[/autotag]

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Chop Robinson is available for Penn State vs. Michigan

The Penn State player availability report confirms the availability of a key player vs. Michigan.

Penn State is expected to have one of its top defensive players back on the field Saturday afternoon against Michigan. Defensive end [autotag]Chop Robinson[/autotag], who has been sidelined the past couple of weeks following a head injury against Ohio State, is not listed on the player availability report released by Penn State and the Big Ten leading up to the start of today’s game against the Wolverines.

Head coach James Franklin did confirm this week he expects to have Robinson available and on the field against Michigan. How much he plays and whether or not he slides right back into a starting job remains to be seen and confirmed, although it is expected that Robinson will return to his leading role when he does get back on the field.

Wide receiver [autotag]Harrison Wallace III[/autotag] is listed as out after suffering an injury against Indiana. Penn State will also be without a number of players who have been appearing on the weekly player availability report in recent weeks.

Here is the updated player availability report for Penn State for today’s game against Michigan:

OUT

  • Tyler Johnson
  • Harrison Wallace III
  • Jameial Lyons
  • Tyler Holzworth
  • Feyisayo Oluleye
  • Mason Robinsopn
  • Ibrahim Traore
  • Liam Powers
  • Jim Fitzgerald
  • Jason Estrella
  • Smith Vilbert

QUESTIONABLE

  • Mason Stahl

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Penn State WR Harrison Wallace leaves game with apparent injury

Penn State receiver seen on sideline in arm sling after leaving with injury vs. Indiana.

As if Penn State’s receiving questions weren’t already concerning enough, the Nittany Lions may be down a key receiver. Harrison Wallace III was injured in the first half of Saturday’s game against Indiana when he could not complete a pass going to the ground. He was helped off the field with an apparent shoulder injury.

Later in the second half, TV cameras caught a glimpse of Wallace on the Penn State sideline with his jersey and pads off and his right shoulder in a sling. It certainly was the opposite of a positive development for Penn State’s offense, which has been going through some serious struggles early on against the Hoosiers.

It is unlikely head coach James Franklin will provide much of an update on the status of Wallace after the game. Franklin rarely dives deep into the injury updates except for when they are of the season-ending variety.

Wallace battled an ankle injury already this season and was just starting to get back on the field. This is an unfortunate setback.

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Best photos from Penn State’s blowout of UMass

Best photos from Penn State’s homecoming win over UMass.

The weather may not have been fantastic, but just about everything else about Penn State’s victory over UMass was. From big special teams returns, a monster defensive performance, and steady offensive production against an overmatched opponent, Penn State was ready to send the fans and alums home with a win to smile about.

Penn State dominated UMass, 63-0, in front of a homecoming crowd willing to sit through the first batch of cold and damp fall weather to his State College for a football Saturday this season. And it did lead to some memorable photos to look back on as well.

Here are some of the best photos from Penn State’s latest win against the UMass Minutemen in Week 7 of the college football season.

Penn State availability report for Northwestern released

Penn State’s player availability report is released; Harrison Wallace III’s status vs. Northwestern is questionable

With kickoff approaching in the early afternoon window, Penn State has released its player availability report for its Week 5 game at Northwestern. And once again, it will rule out a wide receiver and a pair of defensive linemen.

Wide receiver [autotag]Malick Meiga[/autotag], and defensive ends [autotag]Jameial Lyons[/autotag] and [autotag]Smith Vilbert[/autotag] were the three players ruled out of action for Saturday’s game at Northwestern on the Penn State player availability report, which is required by the Big Ten this season two hours prior to kickoff.

Wide receiver [autotag]Harrison Wallace III[/autotag] is listed as questionable. He has been questionable the past two weeks. He did not play two weeks ago despite being able to play, and he was limited last week in a home game against Iowa. How much he sees the field against Northwestern remains to be seen.

Northwestern has also ruled out four players this week. Wide receiver Ricky Ahumaraeze, defensive back Theran Johnson, and tight ends Chris Petrucci and Jack Fitzgerald have been ruled out for the Wildcats. Tight end Marshall Lang is listed as questionable.

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Penn State rules out a number of players for Iowa game

Penn State has released its player availability report for Iowa. Here is who is ruled out for the game.

Penn State will be down a number of players this week when they host the Iowa Hawkeyes for the Whiteout game on Saturday night. In all, Penn State has ruled out 12 players for the primetime matchup with Iowa, including wide receiver Malick Meiga.

Meiga was out of action last week at Illinois and his absence from the field will carry over to Week 4. Penn State has also listed wide receiver Harrison Wallace III as questionable for the game. He was also questionable last week at Illinois and was held off the field as a bit of a precaution. How much he sees the field in Week 4 will be seen as the game plays out.

Penn State has also included defensive lineman Smith Vilbert among the players out of action this week. Vilbert also missed last week’s game at Illinois.

Here is the updated player availability report from Penn State with kickoff approaching.

OUT

  • WR Malick Meiga
  • WR Tyler Johnson
  • RB David Kency Jr.
  • RB Amiel Davis
  • WR Feyisayo Oluleye
  • S Jashaun Green
  • DE Mason Robinson
  • DE Joey Palko
  • OL Jim Fitzgerald
  • WR Jan Mahlert
  • DE Smith Vilbert

QUESTIONABLE

  • WR Harrison Wallace III