Injury bug—it’s the story no program wants to tell. Morale takes a hit. The rotation goes haywire. Coaches scramble to fill gaps, sometimes tossing a freshman to the wolves way before their time. And for James Franklin’s Penn State, it’s become practically a rite of passage. But here’s the twist: through all the injury chaos, Penn State finds itself on the doorstep of 2025 with yet another round of ‘hold your breath’ moments. Cam Wallace is regaining form after last season’s major setback. And there’s buzz that he’s finally looking like his old self.
The guy had just earned a spot as Penn State’s No. 3 running back in preseason. He slipped between the stars Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, bringing real energy to the rotation. Through three games in 2024, Wallace made an impact of 18 carries, 63 yards, and one touchdown. Then comes the third game against Kent State. Cam goes down with a nasty lower-body injury that nobody saw coming. The locker room felt it. This was the kind of injury that sidelines you for the year. Fast forward to now, Franklin has some pretty good news about Wallace’s recovery, which ignites hope in the running back room.
“As you guys know, that was a significant injury,” Franklin said during a recent press conference. “So there’s the physical component that he was still working with, the mental component that he was still working through, and the emotional as well. And I see him getting more and more confident every single day. He’s totally ready to go. But it was a significant injury. So he’s still working through some of those things. He starts to look more and more like the Cam we remember every single day. And I’m proud of him.” So the word out of camp is that Wallace is “totally ready to go.” And you can tell the coaching staff is genuinely excited about it.
Penn State running backs coach Stan Drayton laid it out in plain language for reporters. “Getting better every day? He had a better day today than he did tomorrow,” Drayton said. “So if he keeps stacking that, I mean, I think he’s going to be to the point where he’s going to be game ready. It’s just a matter of confidence, though, right?” Teammates are cheering him on, too, like center Nick Dawkins, calling Wallace a “sneaky runner” who finds lanes others miss. Wallace’s absence last season was felt everywhere. Penn State had to reshuffle its rotation and ask freshmen to step up behind Singleton and Allen.
But while Wallace was sidelined, he was grinding through rehab. He was mastering the playbook and working with the coaching staff to make sure when he came back, he’d be ready for real reps, not just practice sprints. Wallace’s comeback is crucial for Penn State’s running back depth. Although the competition remains fierce with Singleton, Allen, freshmen Quinton Martin and Corey Smith, and newcomers like Tikey Hayes and Jabree Wallace-Coleman. Franklin acknowledged that Wallace is right where he needs to be at this stage. He is positioning himself well for the summer camp and the upcoming season.
Why the rotation is Penn State’s secret weapon
Franklin is excited about the “unbelievable history” of the program’s running back room, which has churned out first-round draft picks and top NFL talent. “We’d love to have our starters at every position decided as early as possible,” Franklin said during the press conference. “But even when we do that, we’re still going to rotate those guys because we want to create flexibility, and even if the starting five may look like X, if there’s an injury, we’re going to have to move people around to get our best five guys on the field.” Rotating starters, even when you’ve nailed down the starting five, is like insurance on the field.
When your key rotation player goes down unexpectedly (like in the case of Cam Wallace), coaches have to shuffle things around fast to keep the team’s engine running smoothly. If everyone is set in their spot with no backup plan, that’s when things go sideways. When your star player goes down unexpectedly, coaches have to shuffle things around fast to keep the team’s engine running smoothly. When everyone sits in their spot with no backup plan, that’s when things go sideways. Penn State has nine running backs, including Wallace.
The key to Franklin’s optimism lies in how the backs complement each other. Stars like Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen not only share carries but also contribute in the passing game. That makes the offense more dynamic. Despite the injury scare, the coaching staff, led by Franklin and running backs coach Stan Drayton, has been managing workloads intelligently and focusing on player development. The entire backfield is seen as battle-tested and hungry. And embodies the program’s toughness and adaptability when faced with setbacks.
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