Blue White Illustrated

August 2022

Penn State Sports Magazine

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A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 5 3 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 2021 vs. 2022: Stock Up Or Down? In NFL-bound tackle Rasheed Walker and guards Eric Wilson and Mike Miranda, Penn State has graduated three players who made a combined 36 starts last season. Throw in departed guard Anthony Whigan, who also made a couple of starts, and Penn State is missing a lot of manpower from last year's offensive line. Bad news, right? Not necessarily. Simply put, Penn State's offensive line didn't meet its ex- pectations last year. From head coach James Franklin to offensive coordi- nator Mike Yurcich to the players themselves, everyone has acknowledged that the Lions need a stronger performance if they are going to get where the program desperately wants to go. Whether your metric of choice is rushing yards (107.8 per game) or pass protection (2.6 sacks per game), this unit has ample room for improvement. The newcomers to the projected starting lineup boast a combined total of one career start. That belongs to sophomore left tackle Olu Fashanu, who started the Outback Bowl in place of Walker. Meanwhile, redshirt junior Sal Wormley, redshirt freshman Landon Tengwall and redshirt senior transfer Hunter Nourzad will vie for the guard spots. It'll be a big change, no matter how the position battles at guard shake out, and the Lions are all but devoid of proven depth. But given last year's difficulties, you'd have to say that the stock here is up a bit. X-Factor Who's going to take charge at the right guard position? Wormley ap- peared to win a starting spot last year before suffering a season-ending injury ahead of opening day. He's healthy now and gives every indication he's ready to pick up where he left off. But to earn a starting spot as a redshirt junior, he'll have to hold off Nourzad, a second-team FCS All- American last season. At the opposite guard spot, Tengwall played in three late-season games and saw time at all five offensive line positions in the practices leading up to the Outback Bowl. He's got a bright future at PSU. Freshman Outlook The offensive line is ordinarily the last place you would expect to see a freshman-eligible player contributing, but Tengwall is going to be a major factor here. And with so little experienced depth behind the starters, it wouldn't be entirely surprising to see a true freshman on the depth chart before the 2022 season is in the books. Penn State brought in three frosh linemen in its most recent recruiting class: Drew Shelton, Vega Ioane and Maleek McNeil. — Matt Herb Scholarship Players (15) NO. PLAYER CL. HT. WT. CENTER 70 Juice Scruggs R-Sr. 6-3 319 53 Nick Dawkins So. 6-4 314 GUARD 64 Hunter Nourzad R-Sr. 6-3 310 77 Sal Wormley R-Jr. 6-3 309 78 Golden Israel-Achumba R-So. 6-4 332 55 JB Nelson R-So. 6-5 305 58 Landon Tengwall R-Fr. 6-6 330 TACKLE 79 Caedan Wallace R-Jr. 6-5 319 51 Jimmy Christ R-So. 6-7 315 57 Ibrahim Traore R-So. 6-5 330 74 Olu Fashanu So. 6-6 310 73 Maleek McNeil Fr. 6-7 355 OFFENSIVE LINE* 72 Bryce Effner R-Sr. 6-5 298 — Vega Ioane Fr. 6-4 330 66 Drew Shelton Fr. 6-5 275 * Position to be determined Quick Facts Position coach: Phil Trautwein (third season) Returning starters: C/G Juice Scruggs (13 career starts), T Caedan Wallace (20), T Olu Fashanu (1) Departing starters: C/G Mike Miranda (30), G Anthony Whigan (2), G Eric Wilson (12), T Rasheed Walker (32) Projected new starters: G Hunter Nourzad, G Landon Tengwall Top reserves: C Nick Dawkins, G Sal Wormley, G Golden Israel- Achumba, OL Bryce Effner, T Jimmy Christ, T Ibrahim Traore Newcomers: G Hunter Nourzad, G JB Nelson, OL Vega Ioane, T Maleek McNeil Moved in: None Moved out: None Hunter Nourzad earned second-team FCS All-America honors as an offensive tackle at Cornell in 2021. The grad transfer is vying to start at guard for Penn State. PHOTO BY RYAN SNYDER OFFENSIVE LINEMEN

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