Blue White Illustrated

some guys there who will be leaders next year and have taken on that role this year." One of those departing seniors – offensive tackle Mike Farrell – has seen it, too. "John Urschel and Glen Carson – those are two great leaders that we have on each side of the ball, among others," he said. "Those guys know they'll be expected to step up as leaders. We as an older group have full confidence in them that they'll foster the guys around them and make them better." A big part of that job will be to ensure that the underclassmen stick around. There's zero doubt that guys like Urschel and Carson will be back for their final seasons, but younger players such as Robinson and Carter are likely to receive plenty of attention from coaches of other programs. Urschel said he understands that part of the challenge in the coming months will be to keep the team from splintering during the latest round of "free agency." "We have to continue the Penn State tradition," he said following the Lions' 24-21 overtime victory over the Badgers. "As of the end of this game, I'm officially a senior, as are a lot of guys. We need to carry on the tradition and keep this Penn State football family together. And I believe we will." The mood in the stadium after the Wisconsin game was euphoric. It was easy to get swept up in the excitement of the moment and forget about all the challenges Penn State is set to face in the coming years. But as the Lions showed in amassing eight victories when many were predicting only four or five, they have a lot of resilience. And while some of their most determined players are now gone, many others are back and are looking to make a big impact. Urschel is one of them. How big an impact does he stand to make as a senior on what figures to be a veteran offensive line next year? Urschel himself would probably be the most qualified person to crunch those numbers. Until he does, we'll have to rely on O'Brien's decidedly less scientific appraisal. Said the coach, "We are really lucky that we have him for another year." Urschel, Massaro named Academic All-Americans Senior defensive end Pete Massaro and junior guard John Urschel earned 2012 first-team Capital One Academic All-America honors, becoming the Nittany Lions' 50th and 51st all-time football honorees. Penn State and Notre Dame were the only Football Bowl Subdivision or Football Championship Subdivision institutions with two first-team Academic All-America honorees. The Nittany Lions' all-time total of 51 Academic All-America football honorees ranks third nationally among the 120 FBS institutions. The Nittany Lions' 178 all-time Academic All-Americans for all sports also is third-highest among all NCAA Division I institutions. Penn State has led, or been tied for first, in first-team Academic AllAmerica selections among FBS institutions in four of the past five years. The Nittany Lions' 17 Academic All-Americans during the past seven seasons (15 first-team) leads the nation. The Penn State football team has had a least one first-team Academic All-American in nine of the past 11 seasons (17 overall selections). Massaro also was a 2010 first-team Capital One/CoSIDA Academic AllAmerican and becomes the 10th Nittany Lion to earn first-team Academic All-America honors twice. He joins a list that includes John Runnells (1965-66), Harry Hamilton (1982-83), Lance Hamilton (1984-85), Jeff Hartings (1994-95), Paul Posluszny (2005-06), Gerald Cadogan (2007-08), Josh Hull (2008-09), Andrew Pitz (2008-09) and Stefen Wisniewski, the Nittany Lions' only three-time Academic All-American (2008-10). Massaro graduated in December 2011 with a 3.85 GPA in finance and was on schedule to earn a second degree, in economics, in December. Urschel earns his first Academic All-America selection to go with two Academic All-District accolades. A starter in all 12 games this season, Urschel graduated in three years with a 4.0 GPA in mathematics and is on schedule to earn a master's degree in math in May. A 2012 first-team All-Big Ten selection by the coaches, the former Canisius (N.Y.) High School standout served as the student marshal for the Penn State math graduates at the spring 2012 commencement. He helped Penn State lead the Big Ten in total offense (437.0 ypg) in conference games and rank second in scoring offense (32.6 ppg) and second in pass offense (283.1 ypg) against Big Ten foes this season, while producing a 1,000-yard rusher for the eighth consecutive season. In October, NCAA data revealed that Penn State football student-athletes earned a program-record 91 percent graduation success rate, tied for No. 7 among the nation's FBS institutions.

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