Blue White Illustrated

OH, CANADA After a redshirt year, Canadian Akeel Lynch begins to leave his mark at Penn State LORI  SHONTZ Akeel Lynch wasn't sure what to make of the present. His mom had been traveling out of the country – somewhere called Erie, Pa., south of their home in Toronto – and she had brought him back a souvenir: a Penn State jacket. Lynch was 8, and he didn't know what Penn State was until his mom explained: It's a big-time football program. So that was cool. Plus, the jacket was blue – his favorite color. Years later, when Lynch left Canada for his junior year of high school, hoping to earn a Division I football scholarship, his mom dragged out the jacket, gave it to him and said, "Wouldn't it be funny if you ended up going to Penn State?" Lynch recounted the story Saturday afternoon after the Blue-White Game, the first time he played in a Penn State uniform. "We both chuckled and laughed," he said. "And I'm actually here." And then the redshirt freshman tailback – known as "Big Maple" to Coach Bill O'Brien and some of his teammates – laughed again. "I'm just happy I'm finally playing in Beaver Stadium," he said. "Actually coming out and finally getting a grass stain on my jersey rather than sitting on the sideline. It's just a dream come true. It's all smiles." It certainly was in the media room after the game. Asked about finally getting to play in front of Penn State fans, he smiled. (And noted that everyone in attendance got to experience "all four seasons" of weather during the game.) Asked about playing on the scout team last season, he smiled. (And turned up the wattage as he talked about how much fun he had Wisconsin week, when he got to play the role of Montee Ball.) Asked about his favorite play of the game, he gushed about how cool it was to see backup fullback Dom Salamone carry 10 A P R I L | BLUE WHITE CONTRIBUTOR Steve Manuel 'BIG MAPLE' Lynch first learned about Penn State when he was living in Toronto at 8 years old. times. And, of course, he smiled. Lynch got a little more action than expected; second-stringer Bill Belton was out with a toe injury, and starter Zach Zwinak carried only twice before leaving the game with what appeared to be a hand or wrist injury. (O'Brien said he didn't know any details.) That left more carries for Lynch, who finished with a game-high 13 carries for 83 yards, one touchdown and several instances in which he powered over a defender for extra yards. "I thought he ran hard," O'Brien said. "I'm always stressing for him to get his pads down, to run with his pads out over his toes. He's a great guy, man. … I'm really glad he's on our team." Lynch seems to be equally glad to be here. A couple of years after he got the jacket, he finally learned a little about 2 0 , 2 0 1 3 4 football – not particularly easy in Toronto, where it took his mom a couple of weeks to find a team after he decided he wanted to play. So of course he became a Penn State fan. And, eventually, a promising football player. Wanting to have a chance to play in Division I, he realized that he needed to get himself to an American prep school, where he had a better chance of getting noticed. Just before his junior year in high school, he heard of a school near Buffalo, N.Y., that was taking international students. Better yet, it was only a two-hour drive from home, so he could visit on weekends. By his senior year at St. Francis High School, he was a three-star prospect. He rushed for 2,131 yards and 25 touchdowns in his final year and was named the New York Gatorade Player of the Year for 2011. Like most high-school hotshots, he came to Penn State wanting to play right away. And when Silas Redd transferred after the NCAA sanctions were announced, and then the Nittany Lions had injuries at the alreadythin tailback spot, it looked as though he might be needed. But after two games and a talk with the coaches, who had explained why they would rather redshirt him, Lynch asked to be a part of the scout team. "That's one thing I tried to grasp real quickly – the big picture," he said. "So I took every advantage I had on the scout team, the weight room, the Friday morning lift before games. I just took advantage. You're never going to get this year back." And now he's ready to play – officially. He expects to split time at tailback this fall with Zwinak and Belton, and he knows he'll be on the field a lot for special teams. "If they ask me to run down the field and knock a couple of heads off," Lynch said, "I'll definitely do that." And then, of course, he smiled. B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M

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