Following Penn State’s 34-0 victory over Kent State last Saturday, head coach Bill O’Brien mentioned in passing that safety Ryan Keiser “might have something.”
That something –according to O’Brien a few days later– is a hand injury that could keep the redshirt junior out of Penn State’s Big Ten opener against Indiana next week.
O’Brien says that his rising star will “probably be out” for the Lions’ Oct. 5 clash with Indiana after “hurting his hand.”
For Penn State, the loss is a significant blow to a secondary unit that will face an Indiana team averaging 348 passing yards a game. The injury could see Malcolm Willis take the majority of the reps at safety with Stephen Obeng-Agyapong moving back to join him after having converted to a linebacker/safety hybrid the past few games.
During Penn State’s clash with Kent State, Keiser recorded a sack, and interception, four tackles and three pass deflections.
Beyond the Keiser injury Penn State will enter the Indiana game healthy with the bye week practices wrapping up on Thursday. Interestingly enough, O’Brien said his team practiced four days – Monday through Thursday – this week. Last year the team practiced only three days during the bye week.
Penn State finished the week with a 60-play scrimmage featuring many of the run-on players on the Nittany Lions’ roster. O’Brien has always been a strong supporter of getting run-on and lower depth chart players reps during these types of scrimmages to have them game-ready at a moments notice. Following the scrimmage O’Brien praised run-on running backs Cole Chiappialle and Brian Tomasetti, saying both ran the ball well.
O’Brien talked about the importance of Penn State’s walk-on program saying that players like Keiser, kick return specialist Jesse Della Valle, and defensive end Carl Nassib “have already proven themselves worthy of a scholarship.”
“They are just fun guys to coach, and tough kids,” O’Brien says. “They’ve dreamed their whole lives about playing at Penn State. We will always have these guys be a part of our program.”
As far as the biggest news of the week? The reduction of scholarship restrictions on the program? As you might expect, O’Brien is focused on the 2013 season, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t glad to hear the good news.
“It’s a big deal. It’s welcome news. Obviously, we were very happy with the news, but I told the team, I’m just happy for them,” O’Brien says. “I wanted the seniors to know that we will never forget those guys. Last year’s senior class and this year’s senior class has meant so much to this university, and we will never forget that. Then I told them we have to move on to Indiana.”
