Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1538407
2 8 S E P T E M B E R 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 T hey say that time heals all wounds. What they don't say is that along with time, there needs to be an active wound-management plan. Penn State head coach James Frank- lin has talked this offseason about the "scars" the program has developed over the years that have helped it evolve and grow into what it has become heading into the 2025 season — a legitimate national championship contender. One of the deepest wounds early in his tenure was the situation along the offensive line. Franklin inherited a pro- gram that had been left shorthanded by the NCAA sanctions that followed the Jerry Sandusky scandal. Those penalties — most notably a 65-player scholarship cap — had depleted the roster. Bill O'Brien took an NFL-centric ap- proach to the dilemma during his two- year tenure as head coach, cutting deeply into the team's offensive line. By the time Franklin arrived in 2014, there were very few scholarship linemen left on the roster. The situation was so dire that the new head coach took a pair of scholarship de- fensive linemen — Brian Gaia and Derek Dowrey — and turned them into guards. The full extent of Penn State's person- nel shortage was evident in its perfor- mance during the first two years of Frank- lin's tenure. The Lions finished last in the Big Ten in rushing offense in 2014 (101.9 yards per game) and 12th in 2015 (133.9 ypg). They also surrendered 83 sacks over that two-year span, finishing last in the league in pass protection both years. A decade later, those performances are a distant memory. Heading into the 2025 season, PSU's offensive front is in a very different condition, with Lindy's and Athlon both ranking it second nationally. Franklin said the situation has "totally changed" since his first few years on the job. "When I got here, people just brushed us over like no big deal," the coach said. "We had four offensive linemen — I think that was the number when I got here — in the entire program. I think now, we're at 22, 25." The Lions do indeed list 25 offensive linemen on their preseason roster, and 18 arrived as scholarship players. That's a big part of the turnaround. The other part involved hiring the brightest up-and-coming offensive line coach in the country when the oppor- tunity arose in 2020. Since bringing in Phil Trautwein from Boston College, the team's offensive line has been on a mete- oric trajectory. A Good Problem To Have During his tenure at BC, Trautwein helped assemble one of the Eagles' best offensive lines in a generation. The unit included future first-round NFL Draft pick Chris Lindstrom, and Trautwein helped recruit Zion Johnson, who would become a first-rounder in 2022. Yet, having top-line talent at your dis- Onward Onward And Upward And Upward Penn State's offensive line has made a quantum leap since the early years of the Franklin era T H O M A S F R A N K CA R R | T F R A N K . C A R R @ O N 3 . C O M C O M Anthony Donkoh started 10 games at right tackle for the Nittany Lions last fall before suffering a season-ending injury. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS