When Casey Williams tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee against Nebraska, it was assumed that Mike Lukac would be his replacement.

Matt Kranchick quickly became the forgotten man.

Lukac was the easy and logical choice, as he was built in the same mold as Williams. But the 6-foot-8, 254-pound Kranchick is mainly a pass catcher as opposed to a blocker.

First-time starter Michael Robinson hadn't forgotten about Kranchick and his abilities on the field.

Robinson found Kranchick wide open throughout the entire game against Wisconsin.

"He can beat anyone, one-on-one in Div. I," Robinson said.

The duo hooked up four times for 136 yards, including a 73-yard touchdown. On that play, Robinson found the fifth-year senior open over the middle and the Wisconsin safety was trailing behind him. After making the catch, \Kranchick showed his speed and out ran the safety, which had an angle to cut him off to the end zone.

Kranchick wasn't the least bit surprised that he was able to turn on the jets and score.

He was originally recruited to Penn State as a wide receiver.

"I'm not slow," Kranchick said. "Anybody who has been around here knows that I can run. I mean, I feel like [former Penn State tight end] R.J. [Luke] a couple years ago against Michigan State. I'm not slow."

In similar fashion, Luke caught a pass over the middle and then beat the Spartans' secondary for a 64-yard touchdown in November 2001.

Kranchick's performance against Wisconsin was a more complete effort, but both performances came in games that Penn State needed to play catch up.

On Saturday with the Lions trailing, Kranchick showed that he is a viable option in the passing game.

"I feel comfortable going against those people," Kranchick said. "I
feel comfortable going over the middle and I like everything about it."

But Kranchick also enjoyed playing wide receiver.

"I liked wide out, but now I get out there in the middle of the field and am right on top of the passes," he said. "I prefer this to a 50-yard bomb when you are outside. I love going across the middle."

A tight end that can catch the ball in the middle of the field forces a defense to pay less attention to the wide receivers.

Robinson and Kranchick played most of last season together on the second team, and were key contributors against Wisconsin.

The two whose lockers are situated next to one another often joke with one another.

"When you have a guy like that out there, you can't help but connect with him," Robinson said.

"When we weren't playing that much he'd say, 'your jersey is pretty white, so is mine.' "

His jersey wasn't white when the final horn sounded Saturday.