Penn State Sports Magazine
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N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 2 2 3 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M "It's just to understand leverage more, just trying to figure out the right ways to position my body," he said. "It's trying to understand leverage in the sense of the right way to position my body to make the right type of block on any certain play." Determined to continue his develop- ment, Fashanu has not yet addressed his future beyond the 2022 season. That hasn't prevented Penn State fans from taking a heavy interest in the young player's next steps, though. Only 19 years old, with just one year of consis- tent playing experience, Fashanu will in- evitably have some big decisions to make following the season. Or, as described by Franklin, who an- swered a question regarding Fashanu's place as a projected first-round NFL Draft selection during his weekly radio show, a variety of factors are likely to come into play. Noting that it's his re- sponsibility to help players get a great education, play big-time college football and provide the foundation to chase NFL dreams, Franklin added that the pro- gram will "see how that plays out" with Fashanu following the season. "With Olu and his family, education is really important to them. We'll sit down at some point and have a discussion on all these things and make sure they can make an educated decision," Franklin said. "My job is to help them throughout the process. And at the end of the day, [it's my job to] put them in a position so they can make an educated decision that's in Olu's best interest long term." In the meantime, Fashanu will con- tinue to work to make improvements alongside those of his offensive line teammates. Franklin said that the next steps are within reach. "Overall, I've been pleased," he said. "We're taking steps in the right direc- tion, and that group is starting to play with some confidence. I think we're do- ing a good job of staying balanced for as long as we possibly can and being a little bit more unpredictable." Now that Fashanu is holding down the left side of the line with consistency and excellence, the Nittany Lions are eager to continue to take those steps. ■ Hunter Nourzad Is Dealing With The Learning Curve Hunter Nourzad understood his transition would include its share of challenges. A veteran offensive line- man at Cornell, starting 20 games at right tackle before his graduate transfer to Penn State in the offsea- son, he knew the changes would be two-fold. On the front end, the talent gap between the Ivy League and Big Ten would be notable. More opponents, naturally, would be of a higher qual- ity than he had faced previously. That he would be doing so as an interior offensive lineman for the Nittany Lions, having finished his career at Cornell as a tackle, was another matter entirely. As opposed to a steady dose of defensive ends, Nourzad is now routinely lining up against some of the better defensive tackles college football has to offer. "It was definitely an adjustment. I think it was a bigger adjustment than I was expecting," Nourzad said. "The tools that Coach [Phil] Trautwein and all the other coaches provided for me in camp got me ready for it. "Everything happens really fast and way quicker. And obviously, you're dealing with bigger guys in general. And also, you're moving up to the Big Ten from an FCS conference. So, that was a challenge. But the coaching staff did a really great job throughout camp, getting me ready and adjusting me. I think it's gone well." In his most extensive action of the season at Michigan, the 6-foot-3, 312-pound Nourzad was called into a starter's role immediately before game time. Stepping in for redshirt freshman Landon Tengwall, who suffered an unspecified injury in pregame warmups, Nourzad started his first game as a Nittany Lion. He finished with 49 offensive snaps at left guard, dinged by Pro Football Focus for allowing two hur- ries on the quarterback. This, of course, came after a two-game absence from Penn State's contests with Central Michigan and Northwestern. Nursing his own unspecified injury, technically available but shelved to better recuperate according to James Franklin, Nourzad was seeing his first action in a month when he faced the Wolver- ines. With Tengwall still out of the lineup Oct. 22, Nourzad's services became urgent for the Nittany Lions, and he earned his second start of the season against Minnesota. "In my opinion, you can always do better. And I think [the Michigan game] was a great learning experi- ence for me," Nourzad said. "In film on Sunday, there are things I've got to work on." Specifically, those areas include the continued adjustment to his new reality on the interior of Penn State's offensive line. Laying out the many differences between the positions against what he'd experi- enced previously, Nourzad commended the work of Penn State's coaching staff for helping him to adjust. "I think it all kind of goes back to the fact that you're in a way tighter space in the run game and I was dealing with way bigger guys than I was used to," Nourzad said. "You have way less space to operate. And once the ball is snapped, the defensive linemen are on you really fast. "They just helped me work on my hands with my feet, getting them in the ground faster, and getting my hands inside in the right position so I can have better leverage on the defensive lineman. "And in the passing game, it's kind of the same thing. There's just less space. So, you have less time to read what's going on with what the defensive lineman is going to do. I'm just working on getting my hands up. Your punch is a really big thing. Coach Traut does a really good job teaching us how to do that." — Nate Bauer Nourzad, a 6-3, 312-pound grad transfer who played tackle at Cornell, stepped in to start two games at left guard for Penn State this season when Landon Tengwall went down with an injury. PHOTO BY DANIEL ALTHOUSE