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had lost some people for a number of reasons, but I felt like there was really a good foundation there. So you bring in a staff that's excited and enthusiastic about this opportunity and you put the kids in position to be successful in the classroom and on the football field, then you've got a chance to build on that. In terms of personnel, are there any players you would single out as being especially important to the overall team success this year? On offense, it's clearly the tight ends, because that's a position where they're going to need to impact us in both the run and the passing game. A lot of people talk about the running backs we have, and I feel really good about our running backs. But most of the time, they're de- pendent on another position to be suc- cessful. You can say that for a lot of posi- tions, whereas with the tight ends, their blocking in the running game is really going to help our offensive line mature and grow. If that can be a real strength, it can really help us. Based on film study, that hasn't really been the case. They've been receivers. If we could get them to understand and figure out how to be dominant in the running game, that's going to make them so much more effec- tive in the passing game as well. That's going to create many more big plays out of that position. They have the talent and the maturity to do that. Then, on the defensive side of the ball, I'd say the D-line. Again, that's another position where I think we have talent and depth, and if they can be dominant up front once again, they're going to be able to impact the passing game by pres- suring the quarterback and being able to get off blocks and make plays in the run- ning game. If you do that, it allows the linebackers to mature, and I feel pretty good about our back end, the secondary. A guy who I don't think is getting enough love right now is Adrian Amos. We're pretty excited about him and his ability. I could name a lot of guys, but he's a guy who I think should be getting a little bit more love and attention, because we think he has a chance to be special. ■ Ben Kline had a tough act to follow when he succeeded Eric Shrive as president of Penn State's chapter of Up- lifting Athletes. Shrive had been a fundraising dynamo during his time on campus, and the annual Lift for Life event continued to grow under his watch, moving from Holuba Hall to the Penn State Lacrosse Field in a bid to accommodate more spectators and raise more money for the fight against kidney cancer. When Shrive relinquished leadership of the student-run philanthropy, there wasn't an extensive debriefing. "He kept the magic pretty close to the vest," said Kline, a junior linebacker who was forced to sit out this year's event due to a torn Achilles tendon. "But it's all right. I think we still did a pretty good job." Did they ever. This year's Lift for Life, which took place July 12 at the Lacrosse Field before an estimated crowd of 2,500, raised $139,141 for the Kidney Cancer Association. That figure was the highest total in the event's 12-year history and boosted its all-time fundraising tally to nearly $1 million. Offensive players competed against their defensive counterparts at Lift for Life, doing battle in six strength and conditioning drills: the shuttle run, dead- lift, sled push, tire flip, tug run and 225-pound max bench press. Linebacker Mike Hull finished first in the bench press with 30 reps, while guard Brian Gaia and defensive tackle Tarow Barney performed 29 reps apiece and tight end Jesse James 27. James also performed 12 reps at 500 pounds in the deadlift, prompting strength coach Dwight Galt to refer to him as "a freak." The offense won the overall competition, 30-24, but the number that people were talking about afterward was the fundraising tally. "Everybody's really happy to be doing what we're doing here and takes a lot of pride in the fact that we can raise over $100,000 year in and year out and have great events," Kline said. "I think that's really special." – MATT HERB F O O T B A L L Lift for Life sets record TIRE PRESSURE Malik Golden (left) and Austin Johnson flip a tractor tire as part of Penn State's Lift for Life event on July 12. The an- nual fundraiser netted $139,141 this year. Photo by Tim Owen

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