UNIVERSITY PARK -- Tight end Kyle Carter, who's day-to-day according to coach Bill O'Brien, did some light jogging and stretching during Wednesday's practice indoors at Holuba Hall.
Carter did not participate in drills during the 25-minute portion of practice that was open to the media. Carter suffered an ankle injury late in the loss to Ohio State and had that ankle heavily taped during practice.
Place-kicker Sam Ficken made all four of the field goals he attempted in practice after O'Brien said his kicker's practice reps had been limited due to a quad injury.
SUBHD: Overhyped for OSU
Saturday's loss against Buckeyes was a game Penn State had circled on its calendars for months. It was a showcase game in front of a sold-out, whiteout crowd.
But guard John Urschel said he thought his offensive line unit may have gotten too hyped for the game and got caught up in the atmosphere.
"Honestly, I think we got a little too excited for the game," Urschel said. "It was a very big game for us, very exciting at home, whiteout, and I think we just let the excitement get to us a little bit."
Urschel said the offensive linemen need to work on staying calm and collective during games to ensure they can communicate with one another and quarterback Matt McGloin.
He said some positions do very well when players are strung out on energy and emotion during games. But offensive linemen need to find something in the middle of collectiveness and craziness.
"You can't play recklessly," Urschel said. "Offensive line is one of the positions where you have to be excited to play, but at the same time you have to be mentality sharp and aware of what is going on."
SUBHD: Feeling fresh
As a long football season wears on, players typically become worn down and lose that fresh feeling they experienced in their bodies earlier in the season.
Linebacker Mike Hull said Wednesday that he thinks the team is a lot more fresh at this point in the season compared to where it was last year. Hull attributed that to the new strength and conditioning program run by Craig Fitzgerald.
"I do feel like we have a team that's in good condition," O'Brien said. "I watch these guys on Monday nights. After practice we condition, and we condition pretty hard."
O'Brien said that having his team be in shape allows him to run the NASCAR offense at such a furious pace.
Fitzgerald is known as a highly energetic and emotional guy, one who can be seen doing the worm on the Beaver Stadium turf prior to games to help fire up the players.
O'Brien joked at the weekly press conference that he was going to nominate his strength coach for "Dancing With the Stars."
When Hull was asked what the craziest thing he had seen his strength coach do, he paused and laughed. The sophomore then said, "Probably lick the floor." Hull said he has seen it happen once or twice.
"He will do an up-down and lick the floor if he made a mistake," Hull said.
