Juwan Johnson ‘hopeful’ to play vs. Iowa. What it means for PSU’s freshman WRs

As his teammates jogged off the field at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Penn State wide receiver Juwan Johnson struggled mightily to make his way to the tunnel. The starter didn’t play in the second half of Penn State’s 33-28 win, coming out of halftime with his left ankle taped and without his helmet.

But the Nittany Lions are “hopeful” to have Johnson available this weekend.

“We were hoping to get him back in the game on Saturday, but we weren’t able to do that,” Franklin said. “Me and Juwan have been going back and forth for the last 48 hours. I talked to the trainers and got their feelings on it, but then I think it’s also interesting to hear what the players say themselves, what their temperament is about it.”

“He’s pretty confident that he’s going to be back, and so is Andy (Mutnan, Penn State’s head trainer). But it’s early in the week, so we’ll see.”

Johnson’s season hasn’t been what anyone, including him, expected entering 2018. The 6-foot-4 target with preseason NFL hype is leading the team with six drops. His 21 catches and 293 yards is second on the team, but through seven games, that isn’t enough to out-pace his 2017 production — when he was competing with Saquon Barkley, DaeSean Hamilton and Mike Gesicki for targets.

Johnson did show a flash of positivity on Saturday, catching an underneath drag route, breaking a tackle and ripping off a 59-yard gain. But when he went out with the injury, redshirt freshman Cam Sullivan-Brown filled in nicely, and fans were already calling for true freshmen Justin Shorter and Daniel George to get more playing time. And that might be the case Saturday, even if Johnson plays.

“I talked to all three of those guys (Shorter, George and slot receiver Jahan Dotson) on Sunday night after practice,” Franklin said. “This is going to be a big week for them.”

‘Best front’

Franklin said that Iowa’s defensive line is “by far the best front we have faced in two years,” and noted that the Hawkeyes’ defensive ends are “Carl Nassib-like.”

Iowa is tied for 99th in the country in tackles for loss per game (5.1), so not great there.

However, the Hawkeyes’ 22 sacks rank third in the Big Ten, Anthony Nelson terrorized Penn State tackle Will Fries last year in Iowa City, and A.J. Epenesa — a former five-star talent — is coming into his own for Kirk Ferentz’s squad.

Penn State’s players of the week

• Offense: Miles Sanders. The junior tailback rushed for 72 yards — his second-lowest total of 2018. However, Sanders was finally utilized in the passing game. He led the team with six receptions and tallied 54 yards.

• Defense: Shaka Toney. The redshirt sophomore defensive end racked up four sacks — all of which came in the game’s final seven minutes. Toney’s four takedowns tied his 2017 total and a single-game Penn State record. Just three other Nittany Lions have racked up four sacks in one game: Tamba Hali (2005, vs. Wisconsin), Jimmy Kennedy (2002, vs. Wisconsin) and Terry Killens (1995, vs. Indiana).

• Special teams: Johnathan Thomas. The fifth-year senior sparked the Nittany Lions in the third quarter. After Indiana went up 21-20, Thomas returned the ensuing kickoff 94 yards to set up a 5-yard touchdown run. From that point on, Penn State did not surrender the lead.

This story was originally published October 23, 2018 at 1:15 PM.