PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Parker Washington, Penn State’s leading receiver, missed the 55-10 victory over Rutgers with an undisclosed injury, but coach James Franklin wasn’t ready to announce his status Saturday.
“I will have to wait until Tuesday to talk to you about Parker,” Franklin said. “I want to make sure I’m clear with what’s going on. I have not talked to Parker yet. I’d like to do that first. I’ll make sure I answer your question on Tuesday.”
Washington leads the Nittany Lions with 46 receptions for 611 yards and two touchdowns in his third season as a starter. He did not accompany the team to Rutgers.
KeAndre Lambert-Smith and Harrison Wallace III saw increased playing time in Washington’s absence. Lambert-Smith had three catches for 9 yards, and Wallace had three for 49 yards. Mitchell Tinsley was Penn State’s top receiver Saturday with five receptions for 63 yards.
“Early on we weren’t in rhythm like I thought we needed to be,” Franklin said. “Not having Parker for this game was obviously a big loss. A good percentage of our passing game has gone through him. He’s a leader for us.
“I thought those other guys did a nice job. We’re going to have to build on it. We’ll see how this plays out with Parker. Either way their rep count is going to go up.”
Historic freshmen: Penn State running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen made history, becoming the first pair of Big Ten freshmen to top 700 rushing yards in the same season.
Singleton, the Gov. Mifflin grad, gained 62 yards on nine carries against Rutgers, and Allen had 117 yards and one touchdown on 11 attempts.
For the year, Singleton has 863 yards and Allen has 748. They’re only the fourth set of freshmen to top 700 yards in the Football Bowl Subdivision since 2000.
“It just shows that we’re doing something right as a unit,” guard Sal Wormley said. “Our running backs are able to trust us and hit the holes. They are able to believe in our blocks and know we’re gonna make that block.”
With two games left, Singleton and Allen have a chance to become the first pair of Penn State backs to top 1,000 rushing yards in the same season.
Franklin’s milestone: Penn State’s James Franklin picked up the 100th victory of his coaching career on Saturday and improved his record to 100-51 in 12 seasons, including three at Vanderbilt.
Franklin joined 26 other active coaches with 100 wins at any level and 17 other active coaches with 100 wins at the FBS level.
Of the 26 other active coaches with 100 or more wins, only six have earned 100 wins in less than 151 games while coaching only at the FBS level.
Franklin is 76-36 in nine seasons at Penn State, a winning percentage of .679.
Rare scoring: Penn State had three non-offensive touchdowns in a game for the first time since a 48-3 win over Bowling Green in 1998 when the Lions scored TDs on two interceptions returns and a punt return.
Penn State became the third FBS team since 2000 to score touchdowns on a kickoff return and two fumble recoveries. The others were USC against UCLA in 2000 and Louisville against Memphis in 2008.
Source: Berkshire mont
Be First to Comment