Offensive lineman Frederick Scruggs a rare bright spot for Penn State

Entering this season, Penn State was seen as a viable candidate to win the Big Ten conference and perhaps even qualify for the college football playoff. But three games in, it still is looking for its first win.

As if being 0-3 isn’t bad enough, the Nittany Lions have lost various players to medical-related concerns. That includes former starting running back Journey Brown, who had to give up the sport as a result of being diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a heart condition.

Long story short, there have not been many reasons to feel good about Penn State’s season.

Except one.

A big one.

A 6-foot-3, 298-pound one.

Offensive lineman Frederick Scruggs made his season debut Saturday in a 35-19 home loss to Maryland at Beaver Stadium.

It wasn’t just his first game of the season.

It was his first game in nearly two years.

Scruggs appeared in one game with Penn State during the 2018 campaign but was sidelined last year because of a broken vertebrae he suffered as a result of a car accident in March of 2019.

Even with the context of a blowout loss, his presence on the field Saturday was nothing short of profound.

“It was definitely a crazy moment,” Scruggs said during a video conference with media Wednesday. “It was like unreal. I’ve been working hard for so long, and to finally get out there and get that experience, it was really good. … It was just really cool to be out there again.”

Perhaps the only people who were more excited about his return were his parents, Karen and Frederick.

“As soon as I saw my mom, she hugged me for like 10 minutes,” said Scruggs, a native of Ashtabula, Ohio who graduated from Cathedral Prep in Erie. “She wouldn’t let me go. She was just crying and telling me how much she loved me and proud of me. Same with my dad. He was super happy to see me out there. … It was super big for him.”

Scruggs’ parents were part of a support group that helped him work through his malady.

“With any injury where it’s a long recovery, you’re going to have doubts in the back of your head,” Scruggs said. “But you’ve just got to keep pushing. For me, it was my teammates that surrounded me and pushed. And coaches here and my family just kept me level-headed through it all. Whenever I felt it was too much or I wanted to quit, I just thought what everybody has been going through. I see my (teammates) out there working, just giving it their all. It just motivated me to get back on the field.”

Brown was one of those teammates who provided support to Scruggs during his hiatus. Now, their roles are reversed.

“I’m just doing the same thing that he did for me,” Scruggs said. “Just being there for him whenever he needs me. Let him know how much I love him and that I’m always going to be here for him. Through this time, we’re just staying with him. We’re having his back, 100 percent, the whole team. That’s my brother.”

Scruggs’ return isn’t complete, at least not in his eyes. He suggests he has room to make considerable improvement after nearly 24 months between games.

“I’m definitely still not where I want to be,” Scruggs said. “Nowhere near. I have a long, long road to go. I have a lot of things to work on with my punch set, my feet, playing with legs better. Just a lot of things to work on and focus on. I’m going to continue to work at it. I’m going to get better as I go on.”