Penn State and UCLA both held their final media availabilities before the two sides meet on Saturday throughout Wednesday. We kick off Thursday with the top things we learned from both Big Ten teams ahead of kickoff, review headlines of the day, and pick a quote of the day. It’s time to dive into today’s newsstand.
The top takeaway is that neither James Franklin nor UCLA coach DeShaun Foster is ready to tip his hand when it comes to the status of key starters who are currently not at practice. Star Penn State junior running back Nicholas Singleton was not at practice Wednesday night. Franklin did not have an update on his status for Saturday at this point. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Foster said he is not ready to rule out starting quarterback Ethan Garbers , who was hurt last week and has yet to practice this week. Backup Justyn Martin has taken all of the first-team reps so far for UCLA. Penn State is preparing to deal with whatever it must once the game starts.
“We’re controlling the things that we can control,” Franklin said. “From what I have seen and heard, they’re planning on playing [Garbers] if he’s available to play. All we can do is prepare off of what we’ve seen on tape.
“We haven’t seen the other kid. We went back and watched his high school tape. But there’s not a whole lot we can do but just prepare for what we see on film. And then obviously, [Martin is] supposedly is more of an athlete, so we get that, but we can’t chase ghosts. We got to prepare for what we have seen.”
In other news, UCLA is set to arrive in State College Friday. And, Penn State is still hoping to have guard Sal Wormley , cornerback Jalen Kimber , and linebacker Dominic DeLuca back after all dealt with injuries last week.
Headlines of the day
Dan’s the man: Penn State great Dan Connor, now a Lions analyst, again playing a major role on the ‘D’ : Flounders, PennLive
PSU practice notes: Offense | Defense
Penn State’s Abdul Carter: ‘You Haven’t Seen the Best of Me Yet’ : Wogenrich, SI
Penn State shows potential, needing killer instinct to reach it : Bauer, BWI
All-Sports Museum Director Feels ‘Responsibility’ Toward Student-Athletes : Brackenbury, Statecollege.com
Bo Bassett sets recruiting timeline, official visits with Penn State and others; what’s the latest on the 2026 star? : Pickel, BWI
Penn State QB Drew Allar feeling like ‘the most prepared quarterback in the country’ : Alenstein, Daily Collegian
Quote of the day
“Everything [stands out]. Sticks [Lions edge Abdul Carter ] is really good. [ Zane Durant ] up front, [ Jaylen Reed ] in the back; they got some really good players. NFL type. Guys that are excited to play defense. They run around. You can see their energy. Coach [James Franklin] has done a good job. Their culture is their culture You can just see it through their players.”
–UCLA coach DeShaun Foster on PSU and its defense.
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