Penn State-Illinois notes
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Penn State-Illinois notes
The Penn State athletic department just released its notes for the Week 5 game with Illinois. There are a few updates as far as the injury report and depth chart go. On the injury report, tight end Mickey Shuler has been added with an ankle sprain. He is listed as probable for Saturday's game. Defensive tackle Mike Lucian, who was out last with with an ankle sprain, is again listed as probable. Backup center Doug Klopacz is out with a knee injury (torn ACL) that he suffered last week in practice.
Wide receiver Deon Butler said early this morning that he wasn't sure if Shuler practiced yesterday. Cornerback Lydell Sargeant said that A.J. Wallace met with the medical staff to re-examine his hamstring injury. The junior cornerback hasn't been playing as much as expected as it's likely tied to his injury. Sargeant said the doctors should have a recommendation today. After Saturday's game, running back Evan Royster said he tweaked his lower back last week during practice. His conference call with reporters is at 11 a.m. I'm sure he'll update us with his status.
As for the depth chart, Maurice Evans and Abe Koroma are still missing from the list, but that hardly means they won't play Saturday. After his Big Ten defensive player of the week performance last Saturday, Navorro Bowman is listed as the starting outside linebacker alongside Bani Gbadyu. Bowman had his first career start against Temple. Freshman D'Anton Lynn is now the backup to Tony Davis at left cornerback.
This season is Joe's fourth season on the paper's Penn State beat. He previously covered the Nittany Lions for United Press International from 1976 to 1984.
Emily Kaplan is the Inquirer’s fall intern covering the Nittany Lions. She is a senior at Penn State and has covered a variety of sports for the university’s student-run paper, The Daily Collegian. Over the last two years, she has reported for The Associated Press from State College.
A Montclair, N.J. native, she has also interned at MLB Network, NHL.com and covered the 2012 Olympics in London. Follow her on Twitter here @EKaplan24.
