Kinlaw overcomes adversity, fate to become key Penn State rusher

The senior finally became a starter in late October, and rushed for 1,186 yards.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The odds at one time seemed stacked against tailback Rodney Kinlaw to make a difference at Penn State.

A right knee injury set Kinlaw back in his freshman season, and for the next few years he was stuck behind workhorse running back Tony Hunt on the depth chart. The same reserve role seemed to await him in 2007 behind promising Austin Scott.

But fate has finally twisted in Kinlaw’s favor. The fifth-year senior snagged the starting job in early October, and he became one of the offense’s most valuable players after rushing for 1,186 yards.

“It’s hard to get comfortable when you’re on the sideline for a few years,” Kinlaw said Wednesday at the Alamodome, where Penn State will play Texas A&M in the Alamo Bowl Saturday. “It was just a matter of getting in there and being able to show it.”

It’s taken a while for Kinlaw to get the opportunity.

He tore a right knee ligament during an early season practice in his freshman year in 2003. That, in part, kept him behind Hunt on the depth chart, and Kinlaw didn’t get the touches he would have liked to regain confidence in his repaired leg.

The team changed from a man- to a zone-type offensive blocking scheme while Kinlaw was away, which he said also set him back.

“I would just from the start go 100 mph to the hole and through the hole and that’s easy in man,” Kinlaw said. “In zone, you have to slow down and read things and know when to use your speed and when not to.”

Hunt left for the NFL after the 2006 campaign, leaving Scott and Kinlaw as the top candidates to take over. A record-setting high school running back, Scott drew most of the attention entering the 2007 season.

But Scott stayed in the spotlight for other reasons. He had trouble holding onto the ball early on, then was suspended by Paterno in early October after being charged by police with raping a student at his on-campus apartment.

Suddenly, Kinlaw assumed the first-string role, starting the last eight games and finally getting the crunch-time carries to help rebuild his confidence.

“I think it took Rodney a while to get over the injury even though the doctors said ‘You’re fine — go.’ He probably didn’t trust it,” offensive coordinator Galen Hall said. “So he had to go out and get in games and get playing time and get his feet under him and say, ‘Hey, this leg is ready to go and I’m as good as I was, health-wise.’ ”