MIKE GROSS | Sports WriterSTATE COLLEGE - Harrison Wallace III, Nittany Nation turns its desperate eyes to you.
Keandre Lambert-Smith? Not so much, at least for now, and maybe for good.
Penn State’s football team, you may have heard, is desperately seeking wide receivers after a season in which, too often, the position-group seemed not just ineffective but removed from game plans.
Maybe Wallace, a redshirt junior whose career had been injury-plagued, is the solution, or part of it. He’s healthy now, and he caught five passes for 72 yards and looked like a potential go-to-guy in the annual Blue-White intrasquad scrimmage at Beaver Stadium Saturday.
Lambert-Smith was Penn State’s leading wideout - admittedly a low bar - last season. He was not in attendance Saturday and there are reports, from 24/7 Sports and other outlets, that he hasn’t been with the program for at least a week and is about to transfer.
On Wallace, Franklin said, “We believe there are (receivers) ready to take the next step, and Trey was an example of that today. Him getting hurt last year was significant. Having a healthy Trey back is helpful.’’
On Lambert-Smith, he said, “I’m really happy to talk about any of the guys that played in the game today and are in our locker room. Besides that, I don’t have a whole lot to say.’’
Eight WRs caught 13 balls Saturday. They included a 30-yarder from QB Drew Allar to Kaden Saunders and 20-yarders to Wallace and Omari Evans. Wallace barely missed a flashy over-the-shoulder grab for what would have been a touchdown.
Julian Fleming, the hyped Ohio State transfer, had one catch for five yards in limited duty for the Blue team. The Lancaster-Lebanon League entry in this sweepstakes, Manheim Township grad Anthony Ivey, started and played a lot for the Blue, and had one catch for two yards.
This was, we should note, without any of the bells and whistles that are supposed to come with new coordinator Andy Kotelnicki’s offense. There were virtually none of the shifts, motions, twists and wrinkles we’re expected to see in the fall.
Of course, go-to-guys in the Blue-White game are often footnotes in the fall, although that seems unlikely in Wallace’s case.
In broad terms, Franklin defended the group.
“I’ve had all the faith in the world in our wideouts in terms of talent and ability. All those guys are in our locker room for a reason.
“One positive thing is you can really improve in the passing game over the summer. It’s hard to do that in the run game.’’
As for the quasi-game, the White team, the stronger side on paper, easily handled Blue, 27-0. No crowd estimate was given, but 30,000, or less than half last year’s announced attendance, seemed optimistic. The weather, cold for April, mostly cloudy and very, very windy, surely had a lot to do with that.
Many of Penn State’s top returning veterans had little or no role, as is usually the case. Running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen did not play, Allen because he’s been banged up all spring.
In their stead, true freshman Quinn Martin looked good run on touchdown runs of nine and 12 yards.
Similarly, No. 1 tight end Tyler Warren got the day off, and Joey Schlaffer, an R-freshman from Exeter High, started for the Blue and had three receptions.
In the absence of injured left offensive tackle Drew Shelton, Lancaster-Lebanon League alumni J’ven Williams (Wyomissing) and Nolan Rucci (Warwick) played most of the game for the White team in an offensive line unit with Nick Dawkins at center and guards Cooper Cousins and Vega Ioane.
Cousins is a (apparently very precocious) true freshman. If Penn State had to play a real game tomorrow, it’s possible that would be the actual starting O-line.
“Rucci and J’ven have gotten like a thousand reps this spring, which has been great for them,’’ Franklin said.
On the defensive side, Abdul Carter, transitioning from all-Big Ten linebacker to defensive end, played some, had a sack, jumped offsides, etc.
Among the emerging rotation players who popped: Safety King Mack, LB Tony Rojas and DE Amin Vanover, who had a sack and an interception.
Monday, the players begin one-on-one meetings with their position coaches, followed by one-on-ones with Franklin. Tuesday, the transfer portal opens for 15 days, 16 days for grad transfers.
“This could be an interesting couple of weeks for everybody in college football,’’ Franklin said. “We just had a discussion about that in the locker room.
“For me, that’s what those (one-on-one) meeting are going to be about. I’m a big believer in college football being transformational. I’m worried that it’s becoming more and more transactional.’’
He’ll take another pass-catcher, though.
