Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/383968
A group of sure-handed young WRs have had a hand in Penn State's quick start cout team cornerback Kyle Al- ston had no chance. Across the 5eld, Christian Hackenberg was lined up in the shotgun. It was late a8er- noon on Penn State's practice 5eld, and Hackenberg was presented with an array of goal-line targets. Only one really mattered, though. Split wide toward the right sideline, lanky redshirt sopho- more receiver Geno Lewis was standing face-to-face with the diminutive Alston, his only barrier to the end zone. Taking the snap, Hackenberg quickly sent a spiral 6uttering toward Lewis in the back corner of the end zone. Even Hackenberg, a sophomore phe- nomenon coming o7 a school-record 454 yards passing against UCF, occasionally misses. The ball was underthrown and dropping directly toward Alston's back, making an incompletion seemingly in- evitable. But Lewis wasn't deterred. Pulling away from the ball, the freakishly athletic, 6-foot-1, 200-pound wideout leapt anyway, extending his arms fully behind Alston's head to clamp onto the ball like a vise grip. The side judge raised his arms, and Lewis completed the improbable touch- down. Maybe by coincidence, 5ve hours earlier, Lewis had joined reporters via telecon- ference, his presence on the line largely a result of his eight-reception, 173-yard, one-touchdown performance in the Nit- tany Lions' thrilling 26-24 victory against UCF in Ireland. Snatching what were es- sentially jump balls out of the Dublin sky, Lewis provided a textbook explanation of how he manages to win so many 50- 50 balls like the one he would go on to snare over Alston at practice later that a8ernoon. | S TOUCH AND GO