Assessing Penn State offensive tackle play in Blue-White Game

The Penn State Blue-White game was our first and only real look at how certain players and positions progressed throughout the spring for Penn State football. It’s always important when studying film to understand the limited scope and lack of context that small sample sizes create. For example, Penn State’s best pass rusher, Adisa Isaac, rushed against starting left tackle Olu Fashanu just twice during the Blue-White Game last month. So when we take a look at the film from the scrimmage, keep in mind that we are essentially seeing one scene of a feature-length movie. However, there are some essential things we can learn from context. For example, Penn State’s tackles and center got a lot of work this spring, according to head coach James Franklin, “Juice [Scruggs], Caedan [Wallace], and Olu [Fashanu] went the entire spring, and their rep count was through the roof. So those guys have gotten significantly better and it’s going to be challenging for guys to come in and compete with them.” Franklin explained that Penn State’s key cogs up front were the only linemen that didn’t miss any time due to injury. So today, we’ll focus on just the two perimeter players and see what we can glean from their work during the Blue-White Game.