Week 4 Awards

Wow, I'm sure you've all heard the incredible news by now.  The NCAA has decided to restore the scholarships they stole from Penn State as part of the sanctions levied against the school last summer.  The restoration will occur over the next 3 years.  I'll get more into that in a post later this week, once things settle down and I can really analyze everything.  In the meantime, it's time for my version of the Emmy's, the week 4 awards!

This week the Beast Mode Award goes to Akeel Lynch who is proving to be the future of Penn State's running back position.  He had 14 carries on Saturday and went for a career best 123 yds including a long of 43.  Lynch is the hybrid between Zwinak's bruising, down-hill style, and Belton's shifty, speedster style and that kind of player is invaluable!

The Transformer Award tends to change meaning every week, but this week I'm giving it to senior safety Ryan Keiser who transformed his game and came up with a sack, an interception, and 3 passes blocked.  This coming a week after the secondary was embarrassed by UCF.  Someone had to step up and return a little dignity to the defensive backfield, and Keiser was apparently just the guy to do it.

The Matrix Award goes to a freshman who is making a name for himself.  Von Walker already had a cool name, now he's just making sure we get to hear it more often.  The freshman isn't climbing the RB depth chart anytime soon because of the talent ahead of him, but he is showcasing his skills on special teams.  On Saturday, he took a punt return and a kick return, and he didn't look half bad at either.  I expect nice things in the future from him.

The recipient of the In Disguise Award and Saturday's unsung hero is Brandon Felder who has quietly become a solid #2 receiving option opposite Allen Robinson.  Felder had 3 catches in the rain for a respectable 35 yds.  Keep it up!

And finally, the Megatron Award goes to the rainy weather which caused Christian Hackenberg to tank his completion percentage and caused fans to flee Beaver Stadium by halftime.   The wet ball also lead to 2 almost-fumbles by Hackenberg that were luckily ruled incomplete.  I don't know about you, but I was having flashbacks to the 2009 Capital One Bowl during this mudfest.

Welp, that'll do it.  Remember to follow me on Twitter @PSUOptimus for all the latest news regarding the news about scholarships today!  And come back later in the week for my full post on it.  We Are!!!