Penn State interior defensive lineman Hakeem Beamon will not play this season for the Nittany Lions, according to coach James Franklin.
“He’ll be unavailable this weekend and this season,” Franklin said on Wednesday evening following practice. “I think at practice, Hakeem loves football, at practice he’s always good because he loves football. But he’ll be unavailable this week and unavailable this season. So you guys don’t have to keep asking each week.”
Beamon was a projected as a potential starter this offseason but had yet to play in a game this year and did not trail with the Nittany Lions to Penn State’s season opener against Wisconsin. Beamon has practiced with the Nittany Lions in recent weeks but Franklin did not give any details related to nature of Beamon’s season-long lack of availability.
In 2020, Beamon appeared in eight games as a redshirt freshman, finishing the Nittany Lions’ abbreviated campaign with four tackles and 1.5 tackles for a loss.
In the absence of Beamon, Penn State has leaned on Duke transfer Derrick Tangelo who has been steady in the role since joining the Nittany Lions this offseason and made a crucial tackle in the late stages of Penn State’s win over Auburn in Week 3.
Penn State faces Indiana this upcoming weekend before traveling to Iowa City to face No. 5 ranked Iowa.
