Blue White Illustrated

August 2022

Penn State Sports Magazine

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3 8 A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M to him, everything falls in line. I'm glad that he's my coach." Those who pay attention to Penn State's sideline are apt to see Lee smiling at any point in the game. All players lock in differently. Lee's way of doing so is to be the same guy in the meeting room and on the sideline. That guy always has a big grin on his face. Lee overcame anger issues growing up by realizing that life is too short to be mad all the time. He embraced the idea that being happy and positive is the best way to go through life, on and off the field. "I'll be on the sideline and every- body is locked in, and I'm just smiling, just laughing," Lee said. "Coach will be like, 'It's time to be locked up.' I say, 'I am, Coach.' To be comfortable in the moment, I just have to be myself." It's an approach that undoubtedly helped him get through last year's strug- gles. Lee led the team with 530 yards and 2 touchdowns on 108 carries, but Penn State was 13th out of 14 Big Ten teams with only 107.8 rushing yards per game. No PSU ball carrier topped 100 yards in a game all year. Those numbers have weighed on Penn State's running backs, and it was a learn- ing experience for all involved. But there is no question that the tools are there. They just need to all be put together on game day, and that's what Seider has been working toward throughout the offsea- son. "I've never been in a season where we didn't have a 100-yard rusher," Seider said. "We did some stuff this offseason, and even after the bye week [last year] that made us a better running team. I don't want to dive into that, because people will see it when we kick off [in September], and I think it will make us better. "But I will also tell you this: The first game Keyvone started, at Michigan in the Big House [in 2020], there were no fans there, and the kid still rushed for 134 yards. Those kids haven't forgotten how to run the ball. We've got to remind them of that, and we've got to coach better, and they've got to play better. So collectively, I think we're on the right track." Lee agrees and is ready to show the world how he, and Penn State, can be better this fall. "We're in a really good place," he said. "I've got a lot of confidence in this team. I just can't wait to see it all unfold. We've got a lot to prove. This team is going to be good this year. You're going to like it." ■ "We'll be better. We are coming with a different mentality. Anybody in this program can tell you, nobody here likes losing. We can lose no more. So, it's just a different mentality. We're going all out, 110 percent on everything. Every play." L E E Lee set a single-game high with 134 yards rushing on 22 carries at Michigan as a true freshman in 2020. He also scored one touchdown on the after- noon. For his career, he has rushed 193 times for 933 yards and 6 TDs. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL RUNNING BACKS

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