Penn State Football: Lynch Ready To Take Over At No.2 Spot

Akeel Lynch has been waiting a long time for his chance to shine.

But not at the expense of his teammate’s health.

That’s what happened though after Zach Zwinak went down on the opening play of the game with an apparent ankle injury.

The loss of the senior back opened the door for Lynch, who has been something of an after thought in the offense, to come out and show his worth. His 13 carries for 38 yards isn’t the most impressive figure but very little about what Penn State’s offense did on Saturday was overly impressive. A few solid runs by Lynch did showcase that the running back position is in good hands with the loss of Zwinak.

Lynch has prepared each season like it was his time. With Bill Belton and Zwinak both slated to depart the program this offseason, Lynch’s time would have come this offseason, but that plan has been updated and should see Lynch as the No.2 back behind Belton for the remainder of the season.

“I think I’ve become a lot more patient,” Lynch said Wednesday. “I’m learning how to take 2 yards instead of trying to get a big play every play.It’s being patient and allowing for the game to develop and take what it gives you.”

“My preparation for this week or last week hasn’t changed,” he said, “It hasn’t changed since the day I’ve got here. Now I’ve just got to be more focused on game days.”

It won’t be an easy transition though, blocking in the final play of the game Lynch was quiet literally picked up and thrown by defensive linemen Joey Bosa into quarterback Christian Hackenberg for a game ending sack. Passing blocking as long been an area coaches stress for young running backs before they get a chance to play, and as Lynch showed on Saturday, he still has some work to do in that area.

When it comes to filing in the holes behind Lynch, Blue White game star and former walk-on Cole Chiappialle may see a few carries himself. Chiappialle has long been a team favorite vying for carries in this own right. Behind him freshmen Nick Scott, Mark Allen and Johnathan Thomas will likely all keep their redshirts.

Despite fairly limited action prior to this past weekend, Lynch leads the team with 5.2 yards per carry. A combination of speed and toughness he seems well suited to carry to load where Zwinak left off.

“I think he’s made real strides,” James Franklin said. “I’m really proud of him, in a lot of different ways and for a lot of different reasons. He’s doing some really nice things. Big, strong, powerful guy, like most running backs, one of the areas he still needs to improve on is his pass protection. I think that’s going to be very, very important and as big and strong as he is, he should be able to be dominant in that area. I’m very pleased.”

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