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AAer recording only three receptions in the first five games of the 2015 season, wide receiver Geno Lewis was face-to- face with some of the most trying times of his Penn State career. "There was a three-game stretch where I didn't have a catch at all," Lewis said on a teleconference Tuesday morning, ref- erencing the games against Rutgers, San Diego State and Army. "That was one of the toughest times because I've never had that happen to me before. That was something I had to deal with myself and make it into a positive. It was a little hard for me at first, but we were winning. When you win, it makes everything so much better. I figured I'd keep working hard and stay positive." Like head coach James Franklin said aAer Penn State's 39-0 win over Illinois Saturday, staying positive works, and it certainly has for Lewis recently. Even though he started 11 games last season and four the season before, Lewis had to wait until the ninth game of his junior year before he earned his first start. However frustrated he might have been because of that, he's put it behind him and that's been evident the past two weekends. He was especially rewarded for it against Illinois when he caught two passes for 15 yards and a touchdown. That was the seventh touchdown re- ception of Lewis's PSU career, but it was his first in Beaver Stadium. "It was one of the most exciting and happiest days of my life," he said. "In all my time in Beaver Stadium, it took kind of long, but it happened and I'm grateful and happy that I finally got one there." While it was his first TD at home, it was his second of the season, with his first coming the week earlier against Maryland. Both catches were made on similar plays – fade passes to the corner of the end zone. Lewis came down with each of them by out-jumping the opposing defensive back and grabbing the ball at its high point. Lewis said his success in those situa- tions is partly due to his basketball roots. His father, Eugene Lewis Sr., was a standout guard at South Alabama and was selected by the Utah Jazz in the sec- ond round of the 1989 NBA DraA. An aunt, Debbie Lewis, played for Pitt and ranks first in school history in assists and fourth in scoring. His sister, Alexis, cur- rently plays for Iona College. Geno, too, played basketball through- out middle and high school and for mul- tiple AAU teams. He could have played Division I hoops, if that had been the route he pursued. Instead, he decided when he was a sophomore at Wyoming Valley West that football would be the sport he played in college. But he still calls upon his days on the hardwood to make jump-ball catches like the TDs against Maryland and Illi- nois. "It's like going up and getting a re- bound," he said. "It's like three guys being around you and you just time the jump right. Really, I've been doing that since I was in middle school." Now, when Christian Hackenberg throws a touch pass while he's running a fade to the back of the end zone, Lewis believes that he's the only one who has the ability to make the play. "You just have to be confident," he said. "No matter what, this ball is mine. You have to know you want to go up there and make a play. … I'd say [the ball] slows down a little bit [when it's in the air], and you just have to figure out a way to get yourself in the best position to get on top of the DB." T I M O W E N | O W E N . T I M . B W I @ G M A I L . C O M N O V E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 5 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 13 MAKING HIS MOVE After a quiet stretch, Geno Lewis is once again playing a big role in the offense COMING ON STRONG Lewis had a pair of catches in Penn State's 39-0 rout of Illinois, in- cluding a touchdown reception, his second in as many games. Photo by Steve Manuel

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