Penn State Football: Outback Bowl Star Smith Vilbert ‘Unavailable,’ Per Franklin

Penn State defensive end and Outback Bowl star Smith Vilbert will continue to be unavailable to play, coach James Franklin said on Tuesday during his weekly press conference. Franklin offered little insight regarding the nature of Vilbert’s lack of availability — a move that generally holds with the head coach’s standard operating procedure regarding student-athletes and the potential for academic, injury-related or personal factors that might impact a player’s availability.

“I have a ton of respect for all the players in our program, and I want to be respectful of their situations, whether it’s personal, whether it’s professional, whether it’s academic, whatever it may be,” Franklin said. “I’m really proud that Smith Vilbert’s a part of our program. I’ll leave it at that for right now.”

Despite the lack of information, Franklin did recognized Vilbert as one of the Nittany Lions’ scout team players of the week.

Franklin next speaks to the media on Wednesday following practice.

Vilbert was one of many players to make the most of their opportunity against Arkansas last postseason as the Nittany Lions dealt with a host of player opt-outs in favor of preparing for the the NFL Draft. Vilbert had appeared 12 games previously that season before getting his first career start in the Outback Bowl. He proceeded to register a tackle and three sacks in the losing effort. The trio of sacks marked the most by a Penn State player in a single game since Shaka Toney had three against Purdue in 2019.

It remained to be seen where Vilbert would shake out in Penn State’s current defensive line rotation but he figured to be a piece of puzzle, if nothing else more involved than he has been, having yet to see the field in 2022.