Blue White Illustrated

N E W C O M E R S O F I N F L U E N C E njuries are carefully guarded se- crets now that James Franklin is in charge of the Nittany Lion foot- ball program. Maybe it's games- manship, maybe it's an aversion to the sort of negativity that they inevitably bring on, a feeling that is entirely at odds with Franklin's upbeat demeanor. Whatever the reason, he has made it clear that he wants no talk of them, and players have followed his wish- es. For the most part. When Miles Die0enbach went down with a torn ACL in March, there was simply no way the news wasn't going to get out. That's because the whole team felt the pain. O0ensive linemen. Defensive linemen. Running backs. Wideouts. Kick- ers. Everyone. "We all were devastated," redshirt fresh- man tackle Brendan Mahon said following the Blue-White Game last month, a few weeks a1er the news had gotten out. "Miles is a great guy, a great leader. He works his ass o0 at everything he does. It was very devastating for us." It was devastating on a personal level, because everyone empathized with one of Penn State's most outgoing and engaging players. When he was injured – players have declined to talk about what exactly happened that day – their /rst thought was not of the ferocious hit that their depth chart had just taken. It was of Di- e0enbach himself. "Personally, I hurt more for him, because of everything he put in," guard Derek Dowrey said. "I wasn't wor- ried about myself or the O-line. … I was feeling for Miles the whole time." The hurt feelings were an indication of just how much Die0enbach meant to the team. He's got a quick wit and a way of making everyone feel welcome, as was readily apparent earlier this year when he NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK I | Ambitious newcomers team up with returnees to give PSU's ailing line a lift LAYING IT ON THE LINE L to R: Chasz Wright, An- drew Nelson, Albert Hall, Angelo Mangiro, Donovan Smith, Miles Dieffen- bach, Brian Gaia, Derek Dowrey, Wendy Laurent, Tom Devenney, Evan Gal- imberti, Andrew Terlingo. Wright, Nelson, Hall, Gaia and Dowrey will be seeing their first action as offen- sive linemen this coming season. Photo by Steve Manuel F O O T B A L L

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