Blue White Illustrated

S E P T E M B E R   5 ,   2 0 1 8 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 15 Here's how it was supposed to work: Johnathan Thomas was supposed to stand at the goal line and tell K.J. Hamler whether to bring the kickoff out of the end zone or call for a touchback. Appalachian State had kicked off five times previously, and five times Thomas had told Hamler to shut it down. There was no reason to think it wouldn't happen again. But with Penn State trailing the Moun- taineers by a touchdown late in the fourth quarter and the biggest upset of the sea- son's opening weekend seemingly brewing, Thomas didn't offer any discernable signal. The ball had sailed into a kind of grey area: too deep to make a return attempt advis- able but not deep enough to rule it out. So Hamler had to make the call himself. He hesitated for a moment, seemingly unsure what to do. Then he took off. "I just saw the clock," Hamler said. "I knew it was the fourth quarter. We had two minutes leC, and I had to make a play. I had to make the play." To the delight of a near-capacity crowd that had spent much of the preceding 58 minutes with heads buried in hands, that was exactly what he did. Hamler brought the ball out of the end zone and found a lane down the right sideline. FiCy-two yards later, Penn State had new hope in what would turn out to be a 45-38 overtime victory. The decision to bring the ball out was, as Hamler admitted aCer the game, a "leap of faith." But it was entirely in keeping with his approach to football, and to life. The 5-foot-9, 173-pound wide receiver was playing in his first game since suffering a torn ACL in practice two years earlier. He had missed his entire senior season at IMG Academy in Florida, along with his true freshman season at Penn State. But on Sat- urday, he wasn't thinking about his injury, nor was he dwelling on any of the other ways his college debut might have gone awry. "I've learned that you can't be scared," Hamler said. "You've got to go ahead and take that risk, like I did today. I took that risk in rehab. I was getting better, strength- ening the mobility of my knee, and it came together today." Hamler was one of Penn State's starting receivers on Saturday, claiming a first- team position aCer a buzz-worthy off-sea- son in which teammates and coaches had taken turns hyping his performances in practice. He had been a thorn in the side of his defensive teammates, making catches and talking a bit of trash just to keep things interesting. As cornerback Amani Oruwariye said, "He's just a guy with a lot of energy. Even last year, when he red- shirted, he was just bringing energy to the locker room." James Franklin was hoping to see all that energy translate into yardage in Penn State's opener. But Hamler had only two catches for 7 yards in the first half, and the coach sensed that his young wideout was feeling unusually subdued. "He hadn't said a word," Franklin said, "and the only thing faster than K.J.'s feet is his mouth." So the coach encouraged him to start talking. "I want you to play the same way you practice, and you don't act like this in practice, so start having some fun, start enjoying yourself," Franklin told him. "I don't know if that's what did it or not. Ei- ther way, he made some huge plays for us." Did he ever. Hamler had a diving 46-yard catch early in the fourth quarter to set up a touchdown, and in addition to starting the Lions' tying drive later in the quarter with his kick return, he also finished it, making a 15-yard TD catch with 42 seconds leC. Before his breakout day against Ap- palachian State, Hamler's only perform- ance in Beaver Stadium was in the Blue-White Game this past April. He had showed off his dazzling speed in that game, but his biggest moment – a 43-yard catch in the second quarter – was marred when he fumbled aCer being hit by Lamont Wade. There were no mixed feelings about his showing on opening day, though. And per- haps the best news of all for Penn State is that Hamler has a whole lot of college foot- ball ahead of him. "There's more to come," he said. "I love my team. They love me back. I would do anything for them. I'm my brothers' keeper, so whatever my brothers need, I've got them. And they've got me. I've got their back. We've just got to keep moving for- ward." That's exactly what Franklin intends to do, and Hamler figures prominently in his plans. "We've got a lot of belief in K.J. and have for a long time," Franklin said. "This is re- ally the first football game he's played in two years. He had an injury his senior year of high school. He showed up here and still wasn't ready, so we had to redshirt him. But we see this stuff all the time from him. One of the things we probably have to look at is ways we can get his hands on the ball a little bit more offensively and on special teams, because he has a chance to change the game at any moment." M A T T   H E R B | M A T T @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Hamler looking to build on impressive debut Hamler pulls in the first touchdown catch of his career in Penn State's game against Appalachian State last Saturday. The freshman wide- out finished with a team-best 68 receiv- ing yards for the Nit- tany Lions. Photo by Steve Manuel

• Cover