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Mike Sullivan’s instinct pays off in 3-2 OT win for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

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Nittany Lions Notebook: Penn State defense saves best for last

<p>The pass hung tantalizingly in the air, a sailing, tight spiral to the back of the end zone that was anybody&#8217;s ball, really.</p><p>Eugene Lewis made sure it was his ball.</p><p>With a trampoline-like leap, he stretched high toward the sky, going way up over a Maryland defender to pull down the winning touchdown for Penn State.</p><p>We have seen this before from Lewis, a former Wyoming Valley West star who has a penchant for making big plays in the clutch, especially when he plays a college football game in a professional sports stadium.</p><p>We just haven&#8217;t seen it much this season.</p><p>Lewis has had games where he&#8217;s been on the field for a couple fistfuls of plays, other games where he&#8217;s been barely looked at in Penn State&#8217;s passing game.</p><p>Somehow, the sure-fire star has turned into the forgotten man.</p><p>&#8220;Geno Lewis hasn&#8217;t had a lot of opportunities lately,&#8221; Penn State coach James Franklin said. &#8220;But he went up and snagged the ball. I am really proud of him and how he handled that.&#8221;</p><p>Here&#8217;s a novel idea.</p><p>Let Lewis handle the ball a little more, especially when it comes time to win the game.</p><p>It&#8217;s not as if he lacks experience coming through in the clutch.</p><p>He burst on to the scene in his college debut, catching a 54-yard touchdown at MetLife Stadium - the home of the New York Giants and New York Jets - as a red-shirt sophomore in 2013. In the final game of that season, Lewis caught two more touchdowns during an upset out at Wisconsin, including a 54-yarder in the fourth quarter that turned out to be the winning points of a 31-24 victory.</p><p>Then Lewis opened last season with a 79-yard touchdown catch at Croke Park, a professional soccer stadium in Dublin, Ireland and caught a key pass in the final minutes to set up the game-winning field goal. Two games later, Lewis caught passes of 53 and 23 yards on the final drive in the final minutes to lead the Lions past Rutgers.</p><p>He finished up last season with a key touchdown catch among his seven catches at Yankee Stadium, helping Penn State to a 31-30 victory over Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl, and ended up tied for eighth in the Big Ten with 4.2 catches per game.</p><p>Now he&#8217;s not even much of a factor in Penn State&#8217;s offense, much less a starter these days.</p><p>The Lions have apparently become dazzled by the speed and promise of younger receivers DaeSean Hamilton and Chris Godwin, Saeed Blacknall and Brandon Polk, leaving Lewis at times looking lost in the offense if not altogether left out.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s handled it well,&#8221; Hamilton said. &#8220;(Among) everybody in our wide receiver corps, you have no animosity. He&#8217;s handled it very maturely. He&#8217;s been able to take advantage of all the reps he gets.&#8221;</p><p>He&#8217;s not getting many on game days.</p><p>Including his game-winning 27-yard touchdown catch early in Saturday&#8217;s fourth quarter at M&amp;T Bank Stadium, the home of the Baltimore Ravens, Lewis has seven catches for 92 yards after eight games of his red-shirt junior year after making 55 catches for 751 yards last year.</p><p>Even more telling, the Lions didn&#8217;t look for him once and put him on the field about twice during their biggest game of the year, last week&#8217;s 38-10 thumping by top-ranked Ohio State.</p><p>Privately, Penn State&#8217;s staff has knocked the inability of Lewis and some of the team&#8217;s other receivers to run precise routes and create enough separation down field where quarterback Christian Hackenberg feels comfortable looking their way.</p><p>Nobody&#8217;s ever questioned Lewis&#8217; ability to make plays that change games.</p><p>Lewis, who wasn&#8217;t made available to the media afterward, didn&#8217;t need a whole lot of room or incredible cuts that changed his direction when Penn State was trailing by four points in the fourth quarter Saturday. All he needed was the desire and determination he&#8217;s always carried to go get the ball when it came time to win a game.</p><p>&#8220;We see it in practice every day,&#8221; Godwin said. &#8220;He has great ball skills and great ability. When it&#8217;s his time to play, he takes advantage of it. All he cares about is what it takes for the team to win. He&#8217;s the ultimate team player.&#8221;</p><p>As Saturday proved, it&#8217;s about time the team starts playing him.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Sokoloski </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_Paul-Sokoloski-MUG2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Sokoloski </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_Penn-St-Maryland-Foot_Sopr-2-.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Penn State wide receiver Geno Lewis, right, celebrates his touchdown with teammate Saeed Blacknall in the second half of an NCAA college football game against Maryland, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015, in Baltimore. Penn State won 31-30. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_Penn-St-Maryland-Foot_Sopr-2-.jpg</photo1><caption1>Penn State wide receiver Geno Lewis, right, celebrates his touchdown with teammate Saeed Blacknall in the second half of an NCAA college football game against Maryland, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015, in Baltimore. Penn State won 31-30. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>Paul Sokoloski</p><p>In the Huddle</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski</p></shirttailMeta></div>

In the Huddle: Looking for the forgotten man