Penn State quarterback Drew Allar practiced Wednesday but remains a game-time decision for Saturday’s game against Ohio State. Nittany Lions coach James Franklin told reporters Wednesday after practice in State College that he had “no new information” on Allar’s status for Top 5 games at Beaver Stadium.

“There’s no new information at this stage, … but so far, so good and (we’re) getting both Beau (Pribula) and Drew a lot of reps in practice,” Franklin said.

Penn State will not publicly name its starting quarterback until game time against the fourth-ranked Buckeyes. Allar, wounded in Penn State’s 28-13 win at Wisconsinhe said as part of Wednesday’s practice segment, which was open to the media. Franklin said most of the practice reps this week were at Allar and Pribula.

Franklin said earlier this week that Allar’s experience as a two-year starter will give the coaching staff more time to determine whether the starting quarterback can play Saturday. Allar wore knees on the sideline during the second half against Wisconsin as Pribula led two touchdown drives.

“I think he’s played enough football for us, that timeline will go down to the game, really,” Franklin said of Allar. “… But the reality is we’re going to have to have both of them ready.”

Elsewhere, defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton, who has started all seven games this season, was not seen by reporters during the viewing window. Dennis-Sutton was also injured in the first half against Wisconsin, played one play in the second half and did not return. He is a key player on the Nittany Lions’ defensive line with four tackles for loss, two sacks and two quarterback hurries this season.

Penn State is also trying to get right tackle Anthony Donkoh healthy in time for Saturday’s game. Donkoh, injured in Wisconsin, succumbed Nolan Rucciwho played a career-high 49 snaps against his former team.

Looking for more of the return game

Penn State, whose average starting position is the 26-yard line, is trying to stretch that number. The problem is that his return game hasn’t generated much. The Nittany Lions have just nine kickoff returns through seven games, so they’re looking to generate yards on kickoff returns. But they also want to continue to secure the capture first.

Cornerback Zion Tracy took over the return spot following the injury to receiver Kaden Saunders, accumulating 14 yards on six returns. He had an 18-yard punt return called back against Wisconsin because his knee was down.

“We had some musical chairs out there trying to find the guy,” Franklin said. “Zion did good things, (Liam) Clifford did good things … You’d like to launch more of those balls and be more aggressive, but most importantly, we didn’t turn the ball over in that category. Check that box. , great Now we have to take the next step and be able to start catching more of these and returning them.”

Penn State top-5 history

Saturday’s game is the 12th in Penn State history between the top 5 teams. Penn State is 4-7 in those previous games. The last was in 2021, when No. 3 Iowa defeated the fourth-ranked Nittany Lions 23-20 in Iowa City. Penn State’s last win in a top-5 game was in 1999, when the No. 3 Nittany Lions beat No. 4 Arizona 41-7 to open the season. Penn State and Ohio State have faced each other once as top-5 opponents. No. 3 Ohio State won the 1996 meeting with then-No. 4 Penn State 38-7.

Penn State hosts Ohio State at noon ET Saturday on FOX.

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