Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1541990
1 6 J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 6 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M A ndrew Rappleyea had a big after- noon in Penn State's 40-36 vic- tory over Rutgers to end the regular season. A redshirt sophomore tight end, Rap- pleyea scored the Nittany Lions' first touchdown of the game on a 53-yard catch-and-run from redshirt freshman quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer. Later, he put the finishing touches on the Nit- tany Lions' victory with a 3-yard recep- tion on fourth-and-2 that allowed the visitors to run out the clock. The win — Penn State's third in a row — added an upbeat postscript to a sea- son that was mostly disappointing. The Nittany Lions fell out of championship contention by early October and ended up losing six consecutive games before engineering a November turnaround under interim coach Terry Smith that came just in time for the team to earn a spot in the postseason, with the Pin- stripe Bowl choosing PSU to face Clem- son on Dec. 27. T h e 6 - fo o t - 4, 2 5 2- pound Rappleyea finished t h e ca m pa i g n w i t h 1 5 catches for 162 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also compiled a 74.0 pass- blocking grade from Pro Football Focus. Like many Penn State players, he will have some decisions to make about his future now that a new coaching staff has taken charge of the program. R a p p l e ye a r e c e n t l y s p o k e w i t h re p o r te rs about the Nittany Lions' season and his own per- formance. Q U E S T I O N : W h a t was the feeling like in the locker room that enabled this team to stay together and become bowl-eligible and maybe start building toward next year? RAPPLEYEA: "Tal- ent goes a long way. Ev- erybody's got talent in the Big Ten. But I think the thing with Terry that really separates him from a lot of coaches that I've had the experience to play for is that he's just a tough dude. At the end of the day, go do your job, be physical, put the guy on the ground. We can have anybody do it. "That's the thing about Terry. He played receiver. He's a small guy, but he competes like he's [offensive lineman] Olaivavega [Ioane]. Just playing for him, he's a tough dude, and that affects the whole locker room." QUESTION: What did it feel like to hold onto the ball at the end and finish the Rutgers game on your own terms? RAPPLEYEA: "It felt good, man. It felt like the boys had a lot of stuff bot- tled up. To be able to unleash that the last couple weeks on these opponents felt really good." QUESTION: What was bottled up? RAPPLEYEA: "A lot of losses. It pisses a guy off, excuse my language. As players, it's frustrating. Not just players, but staff members, too. It's tough. We were in the gutter, but everybody was still showing up every day hungry, and we came up short a lot of times. The last couple of weeks, being able to do our job and just beat these guys up, it felt good." QUESTION: We've seen you cel- ebrate a few times the past couple of weeks after pancaking a guy. Why is that something that gets you so fired up? RAPPLEYEA: "Legal physicality, plain and simple. My father has instilled a lot of things in me, and I love the dude to death. I've had a great support system my whole life. My pops is always just telling me to be tough. "Since the first day I picked up a foot- ball, I've always taken it very personally. You try to run through me, and occa- sionally it's going to happen that you'll end up being the nail, not the hammer. "That's something I take a lot of pride in. I like touching the ball and scoring touchdowns, but … that's something that I knew I was always really good at, and I'm going to continue to be good at it. That's a way for me to find my opportunities on the field and in the pass game." Q U E S T I O N : H o w has the program changed with Terry Smith as head coach? RAPPLEYEA: "We've a lways b e e n a to u g h team, but Coach Terry has really emphasized t h e g r i t t i n e ss o f t h e game again. Let's go beat these guys up. Let's go be physical. Let's go make them feel our pain, what we 've go n e t h ro u g h . T h e re a i n 't n o b o dy I want to do that for other than Coach Terry." ■ Sitting Down With Redshirt Sophomore Tight End Andrew Rappleyea Rappleyea caught 4 passes for 75 yards against Rutgers, including a 53-yard touchdown on Penn State's opening possession. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS