Penn State Sustained Two Major Injuries at Minnesota

Two Nittany Lions, including a starting offensive lineman, sustained "long-term" injuries in Penn State's win over the Golden Gophers.

Penn State coach James Franklin looks on during the first quarter against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Huntington Bank Stadium. / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Penn State sustained two significant injuries, one to a starting offensive lineman, in its one-point win over at Minnesota last Saturday. Penn State football coach James Franklin said Monday that starting right tackle Anthony Donkoh and defensive tackle Alonzo Ford Jr. sustained "long-term" injuries in the Nittany Lions' 26-25 win over the Golden Gophers. Both injuries create concerns for Penn State's lines as the postseason approaches.

Donkoh, injured on Penn State's second offensive snap against the Gophers, was on the sideline with crutches for the remainder of the game. Donkoh, one of Penn State's highest-graded linemen according to Pro Football Focus, has been a strong presence on the Nittany Lions' right side when healthy. The redshirt freshman has played in every game but was injured twice earlier in the season in games against UCLA, playing just nine snaps, and Wisconsin. Though he did not start against Ohio State, Donkoh still played 38 snaps in the game.

Without Donkoh, Penn State will turn to Wisconsin transfer Nolan Rucci, who started against Ohio State in Donkoh's absence. Franklin said that Rucci, who likely will start Saturday against Maryland, played well in replacing Donkoh against the Golden Gophers.

"Our offensive line as well as Rucci, I think you could watch 20 plays and be very impressed and then you could watch a couple plays and be frustrated," Franklin said. "That's not just coming from me. That's coming from the line coaches, that's coming from the players themselves. We have to take responsibility for that, and you've got to give Minnesota credit for that. ... We were pleased with Rucci and we sure are glad he's on our team. We've felt that all year long, and we're going to need him to have a really good week this week in preparation as well as on Saturday and have a lot of confidence that he will."

Penn State likely won't juggle starters in Donkoh's absence, though it will shuffle reserves on the line. Franklin mentioned guards JB Nelson, who also played through physicual issues this season, and true freshman Cooper Cousins as players whose roles will increase. Both have trained at tackle. Further, Franklin pointed to tackles J'ven Williams, a 6-5 redshirt freshman, and 6-8 true freshman Eagan Boyer as players who will be in the mix.

On the defensive line, Ford has played a larger role over the last three weeks, including a season-high 29 snaps against Washington. Ford played just nine snaps at Minnesota before getting hurt. The Old Dominion transfer, who was injured last season, made 3.5 tackles for loss this season and was beginning to generate a consistent backfield presence on Penn State's interior.

"When I talked about the adversity we faced at Minnesota, there was a lot of reasons for that," Franklin said when asked Monday about Ford.

The loss further deepens Penn State's depth issue at defensive tackle. The Nittany Lions field one of the Big Ten's top interior linemen in Zane Durant. who made 2.5 tackles in a dominant performance against the Golden Gophers. But they also played just four tackles at Minnesota, Ford included. Earlier in November, Penn State confirmed that sixth-year senior tackle Hakeem Beamon was no longer with the team. Beamon had made 18 career starts and played in all eight games before the decision.

Penn State will rotate more reps between Dvon J-Thomas and Coziah Izzard at tackle and could turn to true freshman Xavier Gilliam and redshirt sophomore Kaleb Artis at the position.

The Nittany Lions host Maryland on Saturday in their regular-season finale. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network.

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