James Franklin ‘hopeful’ top Penn State WR will return for Big Ten title game

Penn State football will face its toughest test of the year when the Nittany Lions battle the top-ranked Oregon Ducks in Saturday’s Big Ten Championship Game. An offense hampered by injuries throughout the season, the Penn State staff is optimistic that it will see its passing attack back to full strength with the return of leading wide receiver Harrison Wallace III for the title tilt.

“Trey tweaked something during the week and was not able to go [on Saturday],” James Franklin said on Sunday. Wallace was listed as questionable on the conference’s required availability report. The redshirt junior tried to warm up before Saturday’s regular-season finale with Maryland but ultimately didn’t finish the pregame routine.  “We are hopeful that he’ll be able to go this week. But, [it’s] too early in the week to really tell. But was unable to go this past week.”

Harrison Wallace leads all Nittany Lion receivers with 35 catches for 579 yards and three touchdowns. He is second on the team in receptions and yards behind Tyler Warren and third in receiving scores behind Warren and Nicholas Singleton.

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Wallace is one of only four Penn State receivers with at least 10 receptions on the year. Two weeks ago at Minnesota, it was Julian Fleming who was held out for the Nittany Lions. The unit has also been without Kaden Saunders, who has been battling injuries since fall camp, since September.

The only undefeated team remaining among the top of college football, Oregon ranks in the top 20 in both scoring (tied-No. 19) and total offense (No. 15), while defensively, the Ducks tout a top 10 unit in points (No. 9) and yards allowed (No. 7).

Las Vegas gives an early lean to the Big Ten newcomers, favoring Oregon by -3.5 points, according to DraftKings Sportsbook. However, ESPN’s analytics tool likes Penn State football, giving James Franklin and the Nittany Lions a 51% chance of leaving Indianapolis victorious as of Sunday evening.

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