Penn State LT Olu Fashanu, opportunity at hand, stacks spring improvements

Penn State left tackle Olu Fashanu had a personal goal in mind this spring.

Having just started his first career game, a bowl performance in which he graded out as Penn State’s best pass-blocker and third-highest overall according to PFF, Fashanu said he was determined to not stop there.

“I just wanted to improve myself,” Fashanu said. “Trying to stack (days). I started the Outback Bowl, (and I’m) just trying to prove myself. I’m trying to get better every day, trying to gel more with the team.”

Within the Penn State football program this spring, Fashanu is said to have done that and more. 

Stepping in for Rasheed Walker, Penn State’s starter at the position each of the past three seasons, Fashanu has elicited hopes from within the program that his presence will be marked by little, if any, drop-off in performance. Now listed at 6-foot-6, 310 pounds, the third-year player drew praise from head coach James Franklin throughout the spring.

“I think Olu has been really good,” Franklin said. “He’s been really impressive.”

Penn State Spring Offensive MVP

Winning Penn State’s offensive player of the spring, and honored at halftime of the Blue-White Game, Fashanu demonstrated as much. “Presented to the player best demonstrating exemplary conduct, loyalty, interest, attitude & improvement,” the award encapsulated the impression Fashanu had left on coaches and teammates throughout.

Penn State defensive end Nick Tarburton, having traced Fashanu’s career progression to this point, echoed the sentiment.

“Olu is extremely impressive, especially this spring,” Tarburton said. “His hands are really quick and strong. He’s a really strong guy. Run game, pass game, you don’t want to run right down the middle of that dude. He’ll just eat you up.”

According to Fashanu, part of that development took place thanks to an underlying principle repeated throughout the room this spring.

Suggested by teammate Caedan Wallace as a keyword, “positivity” became a totem from which the line operated. And, with a series of challenges enveloping the unit, limited availability chief among them, the participating players benefited from it. 

“(We were) just thinking about just staying positive through the tough times,” Fashanu said. “So, we’ve been able to do that during spring ball. And, I think that we’re able to learn a lot about ourselves because of that.”

Steps taken for Olu Fashanu

In more concrete terms, those improvements also included a focus on communication. 

Fashanu said he’d left the spring knowing steps had been taken improving that key element. And, dividends would be forthcoming from them as a result.

“That was one of the things that we wanted to emphasize this spring,” Fashanu said. “It’s hard for everyone not on the field to hear us communicating. But, on the field, it’s all five of us, it’s all of us. It’s the entire O-line, Cliff, the running backs. We’re all talking to each other pre-snap, just trying to make sure that everyone knows their job. 

“I think we’re doing that. And, in communicating as much as we have, it just instills confidence with one another. It’s that we all know that we have a certain responsibility that we have to do for each play.”

Pleased with his and the rest of the line’s progression, Fashanu will take the same mentality into the summer.

Wanting to improve from the bowl through the winter and into the spring, four months remain until opening the season. Determined to maximize that time by doubling back, Fashanu is confident future improvements can come to fruition.

A concept that extends to the rest of the O-line, it’s why he’s confident in what’s ahead for the group.

“You can tell that a lot of us are just really dedicated about getting better every day,” Fashanu said. “Through every practice, we felt like we took one step further.”