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T H E 2 0 1 7 S E A S O N "It's amazing," Limegrover said. "He had that opportunity to play toward the end of the year and carried it over and got into this spring. To be honest, I joke with him all the time [about how] I can't shut him up anymore. He's in there, he's right in the middle of it, and the guys like him. It's like he's come out of his shell from that standpoint. It's great to see that, be- cause I think there is a comfort level and a confidence in him in what he can do." When Penn State opened this season against Akron, the redshirt sophomore from Union City, N.J., was in the starting lineup and was the only lineman to play every offensive snap. A year ago, his name wasn't even on the depth chart. He was behind a senior, a classmate and two true freshmen. Even though both starting spots at guard had opened up following the 2015 season, his odds of claiming one of them seemed no better than Penn State's chances of winning the conference title. But by November, he was a starter. And now, with his third year in the program under way, Gonzalez has parlayed that part-time experience into a full-time role. Throughout preseason camp, Gonzalez was a consistent presence on the first- team unit, and he said before the opener that by playing on such grand stages in his first year of eligibility, he set himself up for further success in winter workouts – where he was one of the strongest Iron Lions – as well as spring practice and pre- season. "It was definitely a confidence booster, and it gave me a lot of experience coming into spring ball and into camp," Gonzalez said. "So it definitely helped a lot and it's helping now." Gonzalez made his collegiate debut in the first game of Penn State's 2016 sea- son, but it wasn't until a road trip to In- diana in November that he began to see extensive action. That's when starting of- fensive tackle Paris Palmer went down with an injury. Palmer was the third tackle to see his season cut short, and the injury forced the coaching staff to move left guard Ryan Bates outside. Bates' move to left tackle created an opening for Gonzalez, and even though the line was starting to look very different from the one that Penn State fielded when it began turning its season around in early Octo- ber, the offense barely skipped a beat. "Starting off as second- or third-string and as a starter on special teams, I em- braced my role and then things happened toward the end of the season," Gonzalez said. "I ended up starting in the last few games of the year and the Rose Bowl and the Big Ten Championship. It was just an amazing experience, honestly." In his first start against Rutgers, his home-state school, he helped the Nittany Lions rack up more than 500 yards of total offense for the fourth time that season. The following week against Michigan State, he ceded the starting spot to Derek Dowrey on Senior Day but ended up play- ing the majority of the snaps. For the Big Ten Championship Game, Gonzalez found himself returning to the starting lineup. He looks back on the ex- perience as "a little surreal" and "a little crazy," but it wasn't as eye-opening as the team's subsequent appearance in the Rose Bowl. "Definitely when we ran out of the tun- nel I couldn't believe I was there," he re- called. "It was insane seeing all those people. I was just looking around and was like, Well, it's time." Gonzalez started that game, too, help- ing running back Saquon Barkley break the Penn State record for rushing yards in a bowl game with 194, and Trace McSor- ley tie the school's bowl record with four touchdown passes. And so far this season, Joe Moorhead's offense has picked up largely where it left off – with Gonzalez as one of the starting guards. In the opener, he spearheaded a 172- yard rushing effort from Barkley, as Penn State put up 52 points and Gonzalez cleared Akron defenders out of the way. It wasn't long ago that he was the big shy teddy bear in the back of meetings. Now that he's played in two of college football's biggest games, Gonzalez is still a soft-spoken nice guy, but big teddy has some swagger – and a starting spot. It's almost like Jekyll and Hyde. Said Limegrover, "I'm continually try- ing to find that button to be able to push, because when he gets irritated and agi- tated out there with that strength and his athletic ability, there's going to be hell to pay. "I love it when he gets into it. It's like he gets into Hulk mode. You can see the red- ness glowing in his eyes. I'm like, 'OK, man. You go do your thing.' I just told him that I'd like to see that on a more consis- tent basis, and he gets that. When he's in that range, it's great and real fun to watch him play football." ■ W ith his second season at Penn State under way, Matt Limegrover is feeling good about the progress of his offensive line. And it's no wonder. The unit has gone from a weakness to one of the strengths of an offense that ranks among the most proficient in college football. A year ago, the Nittany Lions had a lot to prove, as the lack of experience and depth on the offensive front had been a major impediment during the 2014 and '15 sea- sons. But thanks in large part to the emergence of three key freshmen – Ryan Bates, Connor McGovern and Steven Gonzalez – last season was a turning point for the unit. Despite a wave of injuries up front, Penn State broke the school record for total offense (6,056 yards) and tied the school record for points (526). Limegrover, a Pittsburgh native who served as offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Minnesota before joining the Nittany Lion coaching Limegrover lauds PSU's progress C O A C H S P E A K MATT LIMEGROVER

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