Conspicuously missing from Saturday's game against Temple was the services of upcoming freshman running back Evan Royster. For those of you that missed it, Royster did play in the game but unfortunately he limped off the field in his first and only carry of the day. Reports say that it's an ankle sprain but the severity is unknown. From what Paterno has said it doesn't look good for Royster.
— He didn't think the ankle was broken. Which would seem to indicate that the ankle hurt Royster severely enough to at least consider for a time that a bone might have snapped.
— He did not rule out a high ankle sprain. If that winds up being the diagnosis, Paterno is talking about an injury that takes weeks — or more — to properly heal.
— He mentioned Stephfon Green.
Brent Carter played Saturday but managed only 3 yards per carry on 4 carries which won't scare any defensive coordinator. That brings us to Green. The coaches have spent the entire season keeping him under wraps with the hopes of holding on to his redshirt but is Saturday's game important enough to waste his entire redshirt season? With Ohio State's and Michigan's loss Saturday the bowl picture for Penn State becomes very murky; previous to last weekend's action it seemed that the Nittany Lions were headed to a New Year's day bowl but that's probably not going to happen now.
OSU will probably win the Big Ten and go to the Rose bowl with Illinois finishing second and headed to the Capital One Bowl. Michigan would go to the Outback bowl with a loss to OSU and a third place finish. That leaves Penn State playing for the Alamo bowl. Win and that's probably PSU's destination lose and it's probably the Champs Sports Bowl. So ask yourself: is it really worth burning Green's redshirt season to upgrade from the Champs Sports Bowl on the 28th to the Alamo bowl on the 29th? Part of me wants to see Green because the coaches and players have raved about him running on the scout team but I also would like him back for four more years – the running back position will be up in the air next season and depth will be important.
Update: It appears that Evan Royster is going to be ok. From Paterno’s press conference:
What's the status of Evan Royster? Is he going to be able to play this week and is his ankle okay?
He didn't do anything yesterday, but we didn't go much yesterday, either. I think he's going to be okay. We'll know better today. It's not as severe as they thought it was on Saturday.
They thought it was a high ankle sprain, and they were worried about it, and the game was pretty well under control. I think he's going to be okay. We're going to push him today to get him to practice some.
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12 comments:
I think it would be absurd to burn the kid's redshirt to play against MSU. The distinction between the Outback, Alamo or some other bowl is simply not worth it.
I enjoy your posts,by the way.
It's possible if Michigan loses and we win we may be more attractive to the Outback Bowl than a four loss Michigan team.
I can totally see Illinois losing to Northwestern this weekend as well, so there are lots of possibilities to still play New Year's Day.
I don't believe bowls would choose us over a 4-loss Michigan team with a retiring Lloyd Carr if he makes the announcement next week as rumors conject.
It is kind of surprising that we haven't heard anything definitive on Royster yet, so maybe it's a game day decision on whether he will play against MSU or not. I sat in the 6th row behind the PSU bench during the Temple game. Royster was walking around and didn't appear to be limping...but not sure how these high ankle sprains manifest themselves.
Regardless, don't burn Green's redshirt if Royster can't play. I agree the difference between the Outback, Alamo & Champs is not worth it.
Oh I beg them to not burn Green's redshirt - there are other backs who can play back up to Kinlaw.
here's hoping that it's something that Evan can recover from fully - he's so great.
Anon 8:53,
Thanks for the kind words, we try.
All,
When I said a small part of me wants to see Green it's a very small part, I really don't want them to burn a redshirt for one game. Remember the cries of foul when Morelli's redshirt was burned so he could throw a couple hail marys at the end of the game?! Same thing here but X 10.
I diagree that burning Green's shirt would be worse than burning Morelli's.
If they play Green, it's because he's the only decent option for the final game of the season with a Bowl destination on the line.
They played Morelli in the first game, knew they burned his shirt, and still only got him about 20 snaps in the rest of a 4-7 season.
That's not to say it would be a good thing to burn Green's shirt. But, at least I could understand why they did it.
From JoPa's Press Conference today, looks like Royster might be able to play:
Q: What's the status of Evan Royster? Is he going to be able to play this week and is his ankle okay?
A: He didn't do anything yesterday, but we didn't go much yesterday, either. I think he's going to be okay. We'll know better today. It's not as severe as they thought it was on Saturday.
They thought it was a high ankle sprain, and they were worried about it, and the game was pretty well under control. I think he's going to be okay. We're going to push him today to get him to practice some.
Thanks Anon 8:19,
that's great news.
So if I changed my name to John and posted at exactly 3:15, would you post a reply and reference me like that guy that used to always hold up the sign? Actually, I'm not sure now - is it 3:15 or 3:16?
:)
I could never understand why there were so many guys named John that held up signs with the time on. Go figure.
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