Penn State football takes another hit, will miss top young defender vs Indiana

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STATE COLLEGE — Penn State football will miss one of its best young defensive players — one of the top rising playmakers on the entire team — for Saturday’s showdown with No. 2 Indiana.

The Nittany Lions keep taking hits at defensive end, one of their biggest position disappointments of this seemingly lost season.

True freshman edge rusher Chaz Coleman is listed as “out” on the weekly Big Ten pregame availability report.

Coleman (6-foot-4, 246 pounds) has made his presence known in a big way in limited opportunities. He delivered an impressive strip-sack and return against Florida International, another fumble recovery and return last week at Ohio State and had a forced fumble overturned vs. Oregon.

Three of his seven tackles have come behind the line of scrimmage. He’s second on the team with three quarterback hurries.

The Lions also have played the entire season without promising defensive end Max Granville and have missed top back Jaylen Harvey to injury. Backup defensive ends Mason Robinson, Owen Wafle and Jordan Mayer also will miss the Indiana game.

All-America candidate edge rusher Dani Dennis-Sutton, meanwhile, has just two sacks all season and none in several weeks.

On offense, redshirt freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer makes his first collegiate start in Beaver Stadium while the backup QB situation continues to be murky, if not potentially alarming. Grunkemeyer’s top backup, sophomore Jaxon Smolik, is listed as “out” again on the Big Ten report and their fourth and final scholarship QB, true freshman Bekkem Kritza, is listed as “questionable” after being ill this past week, according to interim coach Terry Smith.

Kritza hasn’t taken a game snap yet in his college career and only recently returned to practice from an undisclosed injury.

The true backup against Indiana? That could be senior receiver Liam Clifford, who played a few “wildcat” quarterback snaps last week at Ohio State and threw incomplete on his only pass attempt.

Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at  fbodani@ydr.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Penn State football to miss defensive end Chaz Coleman vs Indiana

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