Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/797655
F O O T B A L L Bates ready for anything in 2017 Although he has only one full season under his belt, Ryan Bates is officially a veteran among Penn State's offensive linemen. Bates, a 2015 graduate of Archbishop Wood High in Warminster, Pa., recently turned 20 years old. He spent a year as a redshirt before he made his Beaver Stadium debut last September. His first season was an unqualified success, as he started all 14 games and helped the Nittany Lions claim a Big Ten title and a Rose Bowl berth. The trip to Pasadena was the team's first since the 2008 season. Now, he wants to go back. "We want to get back there next year and [do] even more. Our goal every year is to win the Big Ten cham- pionship and the national championship," Bates said last month. "We won the Big Ten championship last year. We just missed the playoffs by that much and it gives us a lot of hope that we can do the same thing this year." Bates will undoubtedly be a big part of whatever suc- cess the Nittany Lions achieve in 2017. But his role in the offense has yet to be determined. Last season, he started out at left guard and held down the position through the team's first 10 games. But following injuries to the Lions' top three tackles, Bates was forced to move outside. With Andrew Nel- son, Brendan Mahon and Paris Palmer all out of action, the freshman shifted out to left tackle during a victory at Indiana and stayed there for the rest of the season. The question for Bates this spring is whether that move will have any bearing on where he plays this coming fall. With the start of Penn State's off-season drills still a few weeks away, he said he wasn't certain where he will end up. "I came in here as a center, they moved me to guard and then I played at left tackle. So I'm really open to any position, I guess. I'm not really sure," Bates said. "It's a good problem to have. I don't really have a pref- N E W S & N O T E S MR. VERSATILITY Bates played guard and tackle last season, and he could see time this spring at his original po- sition: center. "I don't really have a preference," the sophomore- to-be said. Photo by Steve Manuel |