Penn State Sports Magazine
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Nittany Lions were "heading in the right
direction as a program," he said at the
time. "That's what made me want to join."
He couldn't have known it back then,
but he would have the opportunity to
square o< against the Eagles, and that
game would prove to be a validation of
sorts.
"Boston College is a great school," he
said, still grinning a>er the bowl victory.
"But I just think Penn State was a better
:t for me overall. I'm glad I committed."
When it comes to Penn State's future,
Lynch has never :t in so well. Gone are
seniors Bill Belton and Zach Zwinak, and
their exits leave a void for Lynch to :ll as
the elder statesman of the running back
unit – a role that will be even more mean-
ingful next season. Penn State
had three freshman running
backs taking redshirts this sea-
son – "marinating," to use head
coach James Franklin's termi-
nology – and they'll be un-
leashed upon the Big Ten next
season in some capacity. Also,
Franklin is expected to sign two
more four-star running backs
in the upcoming recruiting class,
both of whom could push for
playing time in 2015.
With :ve talented freshmen set to join
the Nittany Lions' stable, it will be up to
Lynch to lead the way. That :gures to be
a challenging task, but Lynch said "it feels
good" to shoulder the added responsibility.
"I'm the oldest, I've been here for a
while now [and] my mindset is changing,"
he said. "I'm not the guy coming o< the
bench. I'll be the leader helping these
three young guys and these two guys com-
ing in this summer. I think I'm ready to
take that role. I learned a lot from [Belton
and Zwinak] – the do's and don't's. And
then learning from my experience. So I
just have to pass that on and make sure
those guys are ready when their numbers
are called."
Although Belton and Zwinak were stand-
out o