Penn State's Tony Rojas Sends Warning to Rest of College Football World

Most of the talk last year was centered around how bad Penn State was, and rightfully so. For a program that's typically one of the best in America year in and year out, and perhaps had its highest expectations in quite some time, there was no debate that Penn State was the most disappointing team in America. 

It's unfortunate that everything ended up the way it did, but many factors contributed. 

On top of some of the changes, including moving on from head coach James Franklin and making interim head coach Terry Smith the man who got the chance to run the program, there were also some injuries along the way. Guys like Drew Allar, Tony Rojas, and others were banged up a year ago. Rojas, perhaps the most important of the bunch outside of Allar, returns to Penn State this year with a lot on his mind. 

The 21-year-old linebacker is expected to be one of the better players on the Nittany Lions' roster, and he sounds more than ready to get back on the field and forget about what happened a year ago.

“That was probably the hardest mental break I've ever had in my life, just going through that,” Rojas said of his torn ACL. “But people were there to support me, and it was a good lesson for me to sit back and just see that from an outside perspective, and just help the young guys and just the guys in the room in general. And just having a good spirit with the guys was my big thing.”

“So obviously it sucked, but it is what it is, and I can look forward as of now,” Rojas said. “But what happened after, just the season, it was kind of a weird feeling — not just playing, but just seeing what was happening with the losses and coach [James] Franklin [being fired]. … I think we'll be back better than people expect.”

Hearing Rojas say that Penn State will be back more than people think is a very promising sign. If there's one guy I can trust in this organization to come through and make plays when it matters most, it's the linebacker who will be a big piece of the Nittany Lions' puzzle this season.