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spring and summer. Head coach James Franklin avoids talking about the speci8cs of injuries and has acknowledged only that Breneman dealt with "problems" in his le; knee during the o:-season. Having worked strenuously during the summer to rehabilitate, Breneman was hoping that the pain would be minimal and that he would be able to play through it for the duration of the season. But for all his positivity, one haunting thought nagged at him. "I think in the back of my mind, there was a chance that it was something that would keep me out," he said, "a chance that I might have to get something 8xed or do whatever the doctors said was the best thing. So in the back of my mind, that was there, but there was always that thought that I would be able to play with it." He couldn't. Breneman gutted out a few practices in August, but the coaches and medical sta:ers collectively determined that the problem might require surgery. "The pain wasn't so bad," he said. "But I realized that I wasn't playing at the level I'm ca- pable of playing at. That's when we looked at things further and realized there was something wrong." From there, the jolting changes happened quickly. The Mechanicsburg, Pa., native discov- ered that he would need surgery and would be forced to miss the entire season. In addition, he would have to be removed from the 105-man roster during training camp so that the scholarship-deprived Nittany Lions could have as many healthy players on hand as possible. "That was de8nitely di:erent not being around the team for about a month," Breneman said. "I still saw the guys, I still lived in Nittany Hall with the guys, but I wasn't allowed to be in team meetings. I wasn't even al- lowed to stand out at practice. I had to watch practice through a window. That was kind of an eye-opening part." Within a matter of days, Breneman's hopes of improving on his freshman sea- son, in which he 8nished with 15 catches for 186 yards and three touchdowns, were dashed. A period of dejection followed, but he hesitates to call it a "down point," and he bounced back quickly a;er a series of long conversations with teammates, position coach John Donovan and Franklin himself. Said Breneman, "Once I got all those things o: my chest, people were like, 'Hey listen, this isn't the worst thing in the world. These are the good things that can come out of it.' I've been all right since then." Even though he hasn't played all season, Breneman has been busier than he's ever been at Penn State and has impressed Franklin with his determination to make a positive impact. "He's one of the stronger leaders on our team. He's one of the more positive guys. I love him," Franklin said. "I see him every single day. You'd never know that he's in treatment and missing the season. His attitude has been awe- some, so I'm looking forward to getting him back." Between a vigorous rehab schedule, workouts aimed at improving his strength and cardiovascular 8tness, and a heavy academic load, Breneman has had no time to mope or contemplate what might have been. He has found ways to 8ll the com- petitive void that football had always 8lled for him. In the classroom, that has meant absolute excellence this fall. Rather than lightening his load – a common practice among ath- letes in-season – Breneman has doubled down on his most challenging classes. He's now on pace to complete the fall se- mester with a 3.95 GPA, an achievement that has not gone unnoticed by teammates and friends. Said Breneman, "People are like, 'Man, you study so much.' "I think I'm competing in the classroom now more than I was before just because I can't compete on the football 8eld." That doesn't mean he's had to completely abandon football. Breneman has been catching 200 passes every day, putting pressure on himself by starting back at zero for every drop short of 100 in a row. For a former high school All-American tight end, that task might seem simple enough. But throw on a pair of special goggles that are designed to obstruct vision at a variable rate, and the task gets considerably tougher. "It's almost like someone waving their hands in front of your face," he said. "The slower it goes, the harder it is. It kind of helps you catch the ball with distractions. It gets pretty hard." Breneman says his knee feels better now than it did before surgery, but he's not sure whether he'll participate fully in spring practice. "The way I look at it is, if spring practice was training camp, I'd be back. But I don't know what will happen," he said. "I'll de8nitely be practicing in the spring. What level? I don't know. It's something that really won't be up to me to decide." Breneman is eager to ramp up his rehab process in the coming months. Having dipped down to about 244 pounds, he ex- Miles Die:enbach woke up Sun- day morning ready to do it again. The fifth-year senior from Pitts- burgh finally made his return to the playing field in Penn State's game at Indiana on Nov. 8, seven months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn knee ligament that he suffered in spring practice. And although he saw limited playing time in the Nittany Lions' 13-7 vic- tory, Dieffenbach finished the game healthy, unscathed and is preparing himself to handle a heavier load as the season ap- proaches its conclusion. "My knee felt great a;er the game, felt great during the game," he said. "We have terri8c trainers and a Dieenbach relishes his return to action

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