Having to replace all four starters in its secondary from the 2008 season, the Penn State football team went into spring practices with a giant hole to fill in its defensive backfield.
Piecing the puzzle together has become a little more complicated because cornerback A.J. Wallace pulled a hamstring, his coach said on a teleconference Tuesday.
"I'm very concerned about it," Joe Paterno said of the secondary. "A.J. Wallace pulled a hamstring the other day, and I hoped he would be really one of the outstanding kids."
Wallace also has experience returning kickoffs for the Nittany Lions, along with wide receiver Chaz Powell.
Paterno said Powell was not hurt, despite a report by FightOnState.com that the redshirt sophomore injured his ankle in practice Monday.
"He didn't get hurt," Paterno said. "I just saw him [Monday]. He may have gotten knocked down and didn't like getting knocked down, I guess."
Pryor fine despite missing parts of practice
Terrelle Pryor sparked some fears in Buckeye fans Friday. Reports surfaced that he sat out parts of practice with his throwing arm wrapped in ice.
But Jim Tressel put to rest any concern over the status of the reigning Big Ten freshman of the year Tuesday, saying his quarterback simply overworked his arm.
"He missed two or three periods of Friday's practice, I think he'd been doing so much throwing," the Ohio State coach said.
"He's an extremely hard worker, and I just think he overdid it a little bit."
QB battle at Michigan
Tate Forcier was making plays with his arm and legs at the high school level as late as December.
Just four months later, he finds himself in position to become the signal-caller for the winningest college football program in NCAA history.
Following starter Steven Threet's transfer after the 2008 season, Forcier finds himself in a battle with junior Nick Sheridan for the starting job.
"We have to keep reminding ourselves that he's really supposed to still be in high school," coach Rich Rodriguez said.
"But he's come in and learned the system pretty well -- he practices, he's competed, he plays pretty well in our scrimmages."
Forcier has dazzled Rodriguez with the way he has carried himself through such a quick adjustment.
"When a guy first gets to college, because he's learning or maybe because he's nervous, he's not able to do that well," Rodriguez said. "Tate has not shown any of that nervousness so far, and he's been able to do some of the same things we saw when we recruited him."
