Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/160548
PRACTICE NOTEBOOK BY TIM OWEN Bill O'Brien has stayed tight-lipped about who will start at quarterback, but there have been plenty of other developments that he has been willing to talk about. • Running back Zach Zwinak, a 1,000-yard rusher in 2012 who suffered a wrist injury during the Blue-White Game, is expected to start vs. Syracuse. On Aug. 20, Zwinak showed up to practice wearing a normal white practice jersey, instead of a no-contact red jersey, and practiced full-go with his teammates. "He's ready to go, O'Brien said. "He " took the red jersey off, I think it was last week. He had the red jersey on and he was hitting guys and the defensive backs, they were like, 'Coach, he has a red jersey on, so shouldn't he have that off if he's going to hit us?' So we decided to take it off and he's done well." ZACH ZWINAK • Linebacker Ben Kline had shoulder surgery in the off-season, and the recovery kept him off the practice field for the first two weeks of preseason. He re- A U G U S T 2 8 , 2 0 1 3 14 cently began practicing in pads, but wore a red jersey. O'Brien said he's "trying to limit [Kline's] contact on a dayto-day basis. Kline is expected to be " available to play against Syracuse. • O'Brien confirmed that tight end Brent Wilkerson underwent back surgery earlier this month, and the redshirt freshman will miss a significant portion of the season. "Wilkerson is out, " O'Brien said. "He'll be out for a while. He had the back surgery, and that went well. " • Senior Adam Gress suffered a knee injury in the middle of preseason practice, forcing him to miss multiple sessions. Meanwhile, Garry Gilliam has been practicing in his place with the first team at right tackle. On Penn State's most recent depth chart an "or" is listed between Gilliam and Gress. O'Brien was noncommittal when asked Tuesday which one would start. "That would be one of those things you'll find out about on Saturday," he said. "But [Gress] will play. Gress and Garry Gilliam will both play." BL UE W HI T EON L I N E. COM