July 18, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; July 18, 2013 - Penn State defensive end Brad Bars (Nashville, Tenn.) will miss the 2013 season after rupturing his achilles tendon earlier this week.
A redshirt junior, Bars suffered the injury in his right posterior ankle while working out, according to Dr. Peter Seidenberg, the Nittany Lions' team physician. Dr. Scott Lynch, the team's orthopedic physician, will operate on Bars within the next several days and his rehabilitation is expected to take approximately 4-6 months, according to Seidenberg.
The 6-3, 251-pound Bars was expected to challenge for significant playing time this season for Coach Bill O'Brien's squad. He was second the post-spring depth chart at one of the defensive end spots. The former Montgomery Bell Academy standout played in eight games last year, recording two tackles in the win over Navy in O'Brien's first career victory.
A Dean's List student, Bars is one of the squad's premier students, owning a 3.77 grade-point average in finance through the spring semester. Bars earned a perfect 4.0 GPA during the 2012 Fall semester and was selected to the Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District® team. He is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and is on schedule to graduate next spring.
Bars was a redshirt during the 2010 season and will have one season of eligibility remaining after the 2013 season.
O'Brien's squad returns 16 starters and 37 letterwinners for this year. Season tickets are available for the 2013 campaign. The Nittany Lions will host five bowl teams from 2012, including three teams that finished in the BCS Top 25: Michigan (Oct. 12-Homecoming, 5 p.m.), Nebraska (Nov. 23) and Kent State (Sept. 21). Purdue (Nov. 16), Illinois (Nov. 2), UCF (Sept. 14, 6 p.m.) and Eastern Michigan (Sept. 7, 12 p.m.) also will visit Beaver Stadium this fall.
Penn State opens its 127th season vs. Syracuse on August 31 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m.
For information on joining the Nittany Lion Club and purchasing season tickets and for the Syracuse game, as well as club seating in Beaver Stadium, fans can visit www.GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Penn State Athletics is on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pennstatenittanylions) and Twitter (http://www.gopsusports.com/ot/socialmedia.html).