Penn State left tackle Olu Fashanu out for fifth consecutive contest
PASADENA, Calif. — Penn State left tackle Olu Fashanu is out for the fifth consecutive game, as he is sidelined for the Rose Bowl. The Lions’ first-year starting offensive lineman was injured late in the team’s October loss to Ohio State. He then sat out all of the program’s November regular season contests.
Penn State coach James Franklin said in mid-December also earlier this week that the team was hopeful to have Fashanu back in action. However, he was not spotted at either open practice once the team arrived in California. Then, on Monday, the lineman took the field with his teammates for the early portion of warmups and went through a few reps but ultimately stopped participating when full team work began.
At kickoff, Fashanu, who has no noticeable slings, braces, or otherwise, walked out with fellow injured offensive lineman Landon Tengwall. And, neither was in pads. Penn State started Drew Shelton, Hunter Nourzad, Juice Scruggs, Sal Wormley, and Bryce Effner up front from left to right.
“Olu is going to be a game-time decision,” Franklin said on Sunday. “We’ve had conversations with him and his family. Part of Olu making the decision to come back was also about him being physically ready to play but also mentally ready to play. He does not want to rush back from this injury, and that was really what was discussed.
Fashanu will be back at Penn State in 2022
Fashanu is seen as a future top-10 NFL Draft pick. However, even though he could have left after this season, he decided to come back for one more.
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“We’ve had really good conversations with Olu and his family, and he’s been awesome out at practice, not only in terms of the reps he’s been able to get but also really coaching Drew Shelton, who depending on how this thing plays out, could be in a position to be a five-game starter for a guy that we were planning on redshirting,” Franklin said. “We’ll see how it plays out.”
Fashanu opened up about that decision before the game.
“I mean, it was a pretty hard decision,” Fashanu said. “At the end of the day, there are multiple factors that led me to coming back. I don’t want to go into the details, there are many different reasons why I wanted to come back and I’m glad I made that decision.
“I’m looking forward to looking forward. I’m looking forward like to working with my teammates in the offseason and getting better.”
