Penn State football offensive lineman and 2021 recruit Nate Bruce no longer with program
An in-state recruit in Penn State’s 2021 class is no longer with the football program, a Penn State spokesperson confirmed to the Centre Daily Times.
Nate Bruce’s departure was first reported by 247Sports. The initial report also stated Bruce had given up football and initially left the team in spring practice.
The Pennsylvania native played his high school football at Harrisburg High School and was rated as a three-star prospect. He enrolled early at Penn State in January and was lauded by strength and conditioning coach Dwight Galt when Galt spoke to the media in March.
“He’s a special athlete and a special kid,” Galt said. “He’s been phenomenal. This is all totally new to him. He never really trained like he has this last eight weeks. Talk about adapting quickly, he did a really good job and he is tremendously strong.”
The freshman lineman wasn’t expected to be a major factor in the rotation along the offensive front this season, but Galt said Bruce and the team’s other offensive lineman in the 2021 class — Landon Tengwall — were on the right track to contribute early.
“I think these two guys have an extremely bright future with us,” Galt said. “... Depending on how they pick other things up they could definitely be guys that could really quickly assimilate into some kind of a rotation. Now, as we all know true freshmen playing offensive line is extremely rare. And, to be really honest, it generally — in my 36 years — is usually need based as much as anything else. But there’s no doubt that these two guys are on the right path.”
The Nittany Lions are set to open the season Sept. 4 on the road against Wisconsin.
