Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1467458
2 8 J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 2 2 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M S P R I N G F O O T B A L L 2 0 2 2 the help of Coach Traut and talking to my teammates, specifically the other O-linemen, on how I could do better, I think I've improved from that point. Overall, I thought I did all right. But for me, personally, I thought there were a lot of things I could expand on or do better with." He'll have ample opportunity to refine his game now that Walker has chosen to forgo his final season of eligibility. Fashanu, who redshirted in 2020, is get- ting ready to begin his third year on cam- pus. That's the point where a lot of high- ceiling offensive line prospects start to make the transition from backup roles to the more elevated rungs of the depth chart. He's off to a strong start, having recently won the Red Worrell Award, which goes to the offensive player who demonstrates "exemplary conduct, loy- alty, interest, attitude and improvement during spring practice." Fashanu is understandably excited to make that jump, but he's never viewed his career as though there were a prede- termined schedule to which he needed to adhere. "I didn't necessarily have a timeline for when I thought I would be in any type of position to start," he said. "My mind- set going into Penn State was to develop myself as much as possible and to help the team out in any way possible. "Going into college football as an of- fensive lineman, it's really hard to make an impact immediately. I was aware of that. So, my mindset was just to go into the program in the best way possible, try to help the team in any way possible." 'He's Going To Show How Special He Is' Fashanu is studying supply chain in- formation systems at Penn State. With a series of disruptions affecting prices at grocery stores and gas stations across the world, it's a topic on which everyone has gotten a crash course over the past few months, whether they want it or not. Fashanu sees a future for himself in the field. "I want to do something related to that major, especially because of COVID," he said. "I feel like there's a need for people involved in supply chain." Fashanu's immediate future will in- volve efforts to smooth out bottlenecks in Penn State's point production. The Nittany Lions dipped to ninth in the Big Ten in scoring last year (25 points per game), in large part because their offen- sive line struggled to open holes for the running backs. It was a big problem, and Fashanu is going to have to be part of the solution. The good news for Penn State is that there's every reason to believe he's ready During the Blue-White Game, Fashanu (74) was named winner of the Red Worrell Award, which goes to the offensive player who displays the most improvement in spring practice. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL