Penn State draws offensive line to success

STATE COLLEGE - At all his weekly news conferences, Penn State coach James Franklin announces the offensive, defensive and special-teams players of the week, as selected by him and his staff.

This week, running back Akeel Lynch was the choice for the offensive honors, and with good reason. Lynch, a redshirt sophomore, broke out like many expected him to finally do, tallying 130 rushing yards on 18 carries for a touchdown and an impressive 7.2 yards per carry. Fellow running back Bill Belton also contributed 92 yards and a TD on 19 carries.

Franklin said he was pleased with Saturday's performance, but the recent ground success isn't because of any changes Lynch or Belton have made.

It's because of a growing offensive line.

"We didn't go from Bill almost having a hundred yards and Akeel having over a hundred yards in a game because they're doing something different or that [strength] coach [Dwight] Galt got them in the weight room and they're stronger and faster than they were 4 weeks ago," Franklin said. "It's the development and the confidence of the offensive line and getting some of those veteran guys back."

Those veterans are left tackle Donovan Smith and left guard Miles Dieffenbach.

Smith, an established starter since 2012, missed games against Maryland and Indiana; in those games Penn State running backs totaled 249 rushing yards and 4.3 yards per carry. Those are actually solid numbers, except that 92 of those yards came on one run. Subtract Belton's touchdown scamper against the Hoosiers and that average drops to 2.8 yards per carry.

Not only did Smith's return contribute to Penn State's 254 rushing yards against Temple, but it also holds importance for the offensive line's stability.

The past few weeks, Franklin and offensive-line coach Herb Hand have switched various players around, shifting personnel from position to position. Redshirt junior Angelo Mangiro has played center, guard and tackle since the season has started.

Franklin said Smith's return has helped close a "revolving door."

"It allows us to get some guys back to maybe their more natural position," Franklin said. "It also allows us hopefully now to get five guys and leave them at those positions, and try to work with some consistency and building that chemistry and communication within each other."

Dieffenbach's absence had an impact for an even longer period of time. The Pittsburgh native tore his ACL in the spring and hadn't seen action until limited snaps against the Hoosiers.

For eight games, the Lions had to work around not having an interior lineman with 23 starts to his name.

That proved to be a rather difficult task. After barely getting by with the meager production on the ground through their first four games, the Lions' inability to gain a semblance of a rushing attack caught up to them.

Penn State rushed for just 162 yards in its four-game losing streak. Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon had more yards in the second quarter alone this past weekend against Nebraska.

And while he didn't play every snap Saturday, Dieffenbach did play a significant role in the Lions' rushing attack vs. Temple.

Mangiro said having Dieffenbach's veteran presence in the huddle and pre-snap was huge.

"You can write up and talk about things throughout the week, but teams are going to bring something different to you, show you something different," Mangiro said. "Miles is very good at picking those things up and getting calls out."

With Illinois' run defense upcoming Saturday, pounding the rock with Lynch and Belton is expected. The Illini rank as the worst rush defense in the country, allowing an absurd 266.9 rushing yards per game.