The Penn State Nittany Lions started the year right, winning their first game of the 2025 season over the Nevada Wolf Pack by a score of 46-11. It was the first time in College Football history that a score had ever happened, and it was a great way to begin the year for the Nittany Lions.
What makes that week-one win even better is that the Nittany Lions weren't at full strength. Penn State was down a few defensive standouts in the week one matchup, and still put together an impressive performance.
Ahead of their week two matchup, Penn State head coach James Franklin, in a piece from Mason Smith of The York Daily Record, revealed an encouraging injury update on one of the Nittany Lion defenders who missed week one.
Penn State Gets a Boost Defensively
One of the players who missed the season opener was defensive back Zion Tracy. The cornerback played a decent amount in 2024 and was poised for a solid role in 2025, but missed week one. According to Franklin, that might be all he'll miss.
"He's ready to go," Franklin said. "He practiced all week long, including Sunday. So we're anticipating him getting ready to go."
The Junior cornerback played a solid role for the Nittany Lions in 2024, as he appeared in 16 games, securing 35 tackles, one sack, two interceptions, two tackles for loss, and one pass breakup.
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He also featured on special teams, returning 15 punts in 2024 for an average of 5.8 yards per return, and 87 yards total with a long return of 14 yards. For his special team's contributions, he was named the Special Teams Player of the Game against Washington and Purdue in November.
He's carved out a role on special teams, and in 2024, he saw a lot of chances on defense. Now in 2025, he's expected to be a much more prominent facet of the Penn State defense.
Tracy is expected to make his 2025 season debut against FIU, as Penn State looks to get off to a strong start to 2025 with back-to-back wins, keeping their top-three ranking through the first two weeks of the year.
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