Blue White Illustrated

stars of a Penn State defense that was being hailed as the strength of the team heading into the season, went down with a left knee injury while covering a punt. He was able to walk off the field, but after being examined on the side- line by team doctor Scott Lynch and trainer Tim Bream, he disappeared into the locker room and didn't re-emerge until late in the game. During his postgame news conference, James Franklin confirmed that the team's worst fears had come true: the injury was season-ending. Wartman-White was coming off a 2014 season in which he finished second on the team with 75 tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss and an interception. He was also coming off an off-season position change, having played outside line- backer during his first two seasons. His loss had a cascade effect on the defense, forcing sophomore outside linebacker Jason Cabinda to move in- side, with redshirt freshman Troy Reed- er starting in Cabinda's spot in the team's home opener against Buffalo. The Nittany Lions also were forced to abandon their attempt to redshirt two members of the Class of 2015, Manny Bowen and Jake Cooper, both of whom had been playing on the scout team be- fore being called on to see action in Penn State's loss to the Owls. Temple rallied for 27 unanswered points, 20 of which it scored in the second half after the injuries began to pile up. Said Franklin, "We had communications is- sues that we need to get cleaned up. We've got to get off the field on defense, with three-and-outs and turnovers." Injuries have created major problems for Franklin so far this season, just as they did in his first year when Penn State lost two players – guard Miles Dieffen- bach and tackle Donovan Smith – in the position group at which it was most vul- nerable: the offensive line. A few days before the season began, it was revealed that tight end Adam Bren- eman had suffered a setback in his ef- forts to rebound from knee surgery. As Franklin put it cryptically, the redshirt sophomore, a four-star recruit in the Class of 2013, "has some challenges he needs to overcome on the football field." Breneman, who redshirted last year after playing as a true freshman in 2013, didn't see action in the Nittany Lions' first three games and hasn't been listed on any of the team's official depth charts. His absence for the second year in a row has giv- en rise to concerns that his knee problems may be career-threat- ening. And Breneman's loss was just the start of Penn State's bad luck streak. Before their opener against Temple, the Nittany Li- ons lost cornerback Grant Haley to a hamstring injury, forcing freshman John Reid to start in his place against both the Owls and opponent Buffalo. Then, during the first of those two games, outside line- backer Brandon Bell went down with what appeared to be an ankle injury. Neither Haley nor Bell played in the Li- ons' home opener vs. the Bulls, and the Lions' offensive line suffered a signifi- cant blow when starting offensive tack- le Andrew Nelson went down with a left leg injury on the final play of the first half. Franklin described Nelson's injury as the latest manifestation of a problem that has bothered him for much of his college career. The redshirt sophomore missed a significant portion of spring BIG LOSS Mem- bers of Penn State's medical staff help Nel- son off the field after he was hurt on the final play of the first half vs. Buffalo. Photo by Steve Manuel

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