Penn State Sports Magazine
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Zach Zwinak emerges from a deep stable of Penn State running backs WORKIN' FOR A LIVING LORI SHONTZ | B L U E WH I T E C O N T R I B U T O R For Zach Zwinak, like the rest of Penn State's running backs, daily practice is packed with pressure. Sure, there's the basic learning, drilling, fine-tuning that goes on at any practice. But with no true break- away feature running back and a handful of guys vying for the top spot, and with a head coach and position coach who turn as much as they can into a competition, there's an awful lot to take care of. Breaking a play. Making a block. Catching a pass. Every little thing counts, because that's how the coaches decide who starts and who gets the most carries. "It's hard," Zwinak said, smiling. "Because those other guys are really good, so if you mess up on one play, you're like, 'Oh, man, that could be it.' It's hard, but it definitely makes us better." For the past three weeks, Zwinak has been the guy. He didn't start against Northwestern – that honor went to Bill Belton, who played a solid first series – but he was the work- horse the rest of the way with 28 car- ries for 121 yards and a touchdown. He also caught six passes for 52 yards. And now Zwinak, who started the season hovering somewhere around fourth on the depth chart and carried only three times in the season's first three games, has led the Nittany Lions in rushing for three consecutive games. Against Northwestern, he set career highs in carries, rushing yardage, re- ceptions, receiving yardage, and he made both the longest run and the longest catch of his career, too. (Both, coincidentally, were 16 yards.) "I just hope I get a play or two," said Zwinak, a redhead who tends to blush when he's questioned about his status as Penn State's go-to back. "That's what I was always taught, Jonh Beale making the best of your opportunity. So that's what I try to do every single time." Running backs coach Charles Lon- don said Zwinak worked his way up the depth chart with hard work. His style – "downhill, one-cut," as London called it – was evident from the begin- ning. But he had to work on his pass blocking and on adapting to the new offense, which wasn't like anything he'd previously experienced. "He was always asking good ques- tions," London said. "And then confi- dence is a big thing, and he's had some success the last few weeks." Zwinak felt comfortable running. Not catching: "I didn't have any confi- dence in my hands. They were like brick walls." He spent the summer catching footballs, tennis balls, balls from the JUGS machine. Playing seven-on-seven. "It was hard work," he said. "But I needed it. I was really bad." Now the Nittany Lions are confident enough to split him out wide if neces- sary. But he's primarily on the field when they need to grind out yards, O C T O B E R 6 , 2 0 1 2 7 something that's necessary for an of- fense that routinely puts together drives that are 12 or 15 plays long. In Zwinak and fullback Michael Zordich, Penn State has two such backs, and another backup tailback, Derek Day, has a similar style. Belton has more speed and is more elusive, but he does not appear to be back to full speed since the ankle injury that caused him to miss three games and from what London called "a side thing" that he said wasn't serious. "We've got a pretty good situation there," coach Bill O'Brien said. "But we're a one-running back team. … It's hard to get three or four tailbacks in the game at the same time. There's a competition every single week to say who's gonna play, who's gonna start, things like that." And that means everyone comes to play, no matter what day of the week it is. "The guys who practice the best will be the ones who play," London said. "Zach's been hot the last three weeks, and it continued again today. Gotta keep feeding the guy who's hot." B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M CARRYING THE LOAD Zwinak led the team with 121 rushing yards and added another 52 receiving. Both to- tals are career highs.