Injuries could force Chaz Powell back to defense

The injury situation has gotten so bad, Penn State actually released a full injury report yesterday (unusual outside of weekly game notes) to members of the media, including us deadbeat bloggers. Here's the official lowdown:

Defensive end Jack Crawford
didn't start Saturday against Illinois
due to a foot injury. (Photo: Mike/LBU)

Out for season:

T Lou Eliades (knee)
TE Garry Gilliam (knee)
Safety Nick Sukay (pectoral)

Out for minimum of two weeks:

WR Curtis Drake (leg)
DE Eric Latimore (wrist)
TE Andrew Szczerba (back)

Possible for Minnesota game:

DE Jack Crawford (foot)
Safety Andrew Dailey (stinger)
LB Bani Gbadyu (calf)
DT Jordan Hill (ankle)
LB Gerald Hodges (leg)
LB Michael Mauti (ankle)

Honestly, that's not as bad as I expected. Of course, "probable" would be much more comforting than "possible," but this isn't the NFL here, so these are very loose terms we're dealing with here.

Spring roster update: Carter, McEowen gone

(photo: Mike Pettigano)

Only three weeks until the Blue-White Game!

It's sunny and warm today, just the way we hope it will be for the Blue-White Game, less than three weeks away! Hope everyone had a happy, long holiday weekend. While we just covered the tight end position in yesterday's Blue-White Countdown edition, I'm back today with a quick roster update.

Graduations

As we learned from Joe Paterno in last week's press conference, two players have opted to graduate this spring, and forgo a fifth season with the Nittany Lions. The first, defensive tackle Tom McEowen, did not come as a surprise. Many had expected him to go either way this year, after an injury-plagued career. The second, and a bit more interesting, running back Brent Carter will graduate, too. I only say this is somewhat surprising because there is a chance Brandon Beachum is still recovering from his ACL injury last October. An experienced back like Carter would have easily seen more time in the three-deep.

I hate to see such stand-up guys like McEowen and Carter leave. But it happens. Good luck to them both.

Position Changes

Not that this wasn't well-known at this point. But I've changed the positions of redshirt junior Chaz Powell (WR to defensive back), sophomore Gerald Hodges (safety to linebacker), redshirt freshman Mark Arcidiacono (OL to center) and redshirt freshman Garry Gilliam (DL/TE to just tight end). This more accurately reflects their spring assignments for 2010, and most likely the positions they will play this fall.

Number Assignment

True freshman tight end Kevin Haplea has been cleared to play, following a bout with mono earlier this spring. Now that he's going full speed with the team, he is wearing Mickey Shuler's old number, 82.

That's it for this morning's update. As we near the Blue-White Weekend, I'll have plenty of updates like this one, including some updates to our running countdown series. Things change on a seemingly daily basis around the program, so we'll try to stay on top of it all for you, right here at Linebacker-U.com.

You can check out the updated 2010 Penn State football roster HERE. Every player is now hyper-linked, so all you have to do is click on a player's name, and you'll find every article mentioning that player. It's not a big deal, but a nice addition.

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