Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1537537
5 4 A U G U S T 2 0 2 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M / / / / / / / 2 0 2 5 F O O T B A L L P R E V I E W / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / P enn State has not had a consensus All-American at guard since Jeff Hartings in 1995. It has had offen- sive lines with high expectations since then, but they have been few and far be- tween. Position coach Phil Trautwein re- turns a wealth of talent in 2025, and the group is headlined, according to the national analysts who create preseason All-America teams, by redshirt junior guard Olaivavega Ioane. Whether or not he ends up following in Hartings' foot- steps won't make or break the Nittany Lions' 12th season under head coach James Franklin, but if he and any of his teammates in the trenches end up in the postseason first-team All-America con- versations, there is a very good chance that offensive coordinator Andy Kotel- nicki's attack has soared and the Lions will be in position to contend for their first College Football Playoff title. "I've said this publicly before, but we'll go as far as our offensive line will take us as a football program. And that's prob- ably true of every program," Kotelnicki told reporters this spring. "People don't want to talk about that because they want to talk about quarterbacks and skill play- ers. But the reality is, every championship team has got great line play on both sides of the ball." When asked what excited him most about his blockers this spring, the sec- ond-year play-caller focused on how ath- letic the group is and how they can move in space despite being big men. No one embodies those qualities more than Io- ane, who stands a massive 6-foot-4, 330 pounds. While he arrived from Graham, Wash., in the Class of 2022 at a listed 330 Scholarship Players (19) No. Player Yr. Ht. Wt. 77 Owen Aliciene Fr. 6-7 284 63 Alex Birchmeier R.So. 6-5 313 64 Eagan Boyer R.Fr. 6-8 291 73 Caleb Brewer R.Fr. 6-4 306 50 Cooper Cousins So. 6-6 311 53 Nick Dawkins R.Sr.+ 6-4 295 68 Anthony Donkoh R.So. 6-5 326 75 Malachi Goodman Fr. 6-6 321 57 Donnie Harbour R.Fr. 6-3 337 71 Olaivavega Ioane R.Jr. 6-4 330 59 Brady O'Hara Fr. 6-6 295 55 Chimdy Onoh R.So. 6-5 314 72 Nolan Rucci R.Sr. 6-8 307 52 Dominic Rulli R-Jr. 6-3 297 70 Garrett Sexton R.Fr. 6-6 289 54 TJ Shanahan Jr. R.So. 6-4 316 66 Drew Shelton Sr. 6-5 305 51 Michael Troutman III Fr. 6-2 293 74 J'ven Williams R.So. 6-5 316 GUARD DUTY GUARD DUTY Olaivavega Ioane is a force to be reckoned with on the interior of Penn State's offensive line G R E G P I C K E L | G R E G . P I C K E L @ O N 3 . C O M Ioane, a redshirt junior, could become Penn State's first consensus All-American at guard in 30 years. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS