'Same player,' Brenton Strange continues break out season

Brenton Strange isn’t overthinking this. Meeting with the media following Penn State’s 17-7 win against Northwestern on Saturday afternoon, the Nittany Lions’ fourth-year tight end insisted the opposite has been true of his entire season.

Producing a career year already with only five games played, Strange recalled the play that led him into the end zone for the fourth time this season. And, maybe predictably for Strange, it required a sharp move to get open, some toughness, and a little bit of instinct to cross the goal line.

“I don’t think a lot. I think when I think too much, I start to mess up, I start to overdo it,” Strange said. “But I just gotta go out there and be myself. And that’s just a full-speed decision. Not really thinking, just being in the zone, being in the moment, and that’s what happened.”

The first-quarter score for Strange handed Penn State a 7-0 advantage it would maintain for the rest of the game. It also furthered a storyline that has quickly made itself clear for Strange and the Nittany Lions this year.

Coming off a 2021 season in which Strange was named All-Big Ten honorable mention, but finished with 20 catches for 225 yards and three touchdowns, this is the breakout Penn State has been awaiting. The heir to Pat Freiermuth at the position, Strange had an up-and-down campaign that led him to want more for himself the last offseason. 

Saying he foresaw a bigger role for all of the tight ends, needing to overcome some “growing pains” as a group, those aims have since come to fruition as a result of that winter, spring, and summer work that Strange put in.

“I think I prepared myself,” Strange said. “I think all the tight ends pushed each other a lot this off-season. We knew we were going to have a bigger role this season. We had a big role last year, too, but it’s different this year. We’re leaders for this team and we want to be there to execute when our numbers are called and be a leader for our team.”

Strange’s teammates have taken note. Crediting not just Strange, but the entirety of the group, for its commitment to one of the less-loved areas of the game, left tackle Olu Fashanu said the impact of the tight ends on Penn State’s blocking this season has been plain to see. 

“Obviously Brenton is a great player, but I just want to say, all of our tight ends in general, they love blocking,” Fashanu said. “With college football and just in football in general, tight ends aren’t being used as tight ends, but just as bigger receivers. But to have three to four tight ends that just love blocking as much as they do, running routes and catching the ball, it brings a sense of relief just knowing that the guy right next to you is ready to do his job.”

Now second on the team in receiving yards, his 15 catches totaling 231 yards with four touchdowns, Strange has done as much in the receiving game. And, as a blocker, PFF has graded Strange’s performance among the best on the team. 

In 255 total snaps this season, he ranks sixth on the offense and first among the tight ends with a 75.1. Meanwhile, his run blocking has helped spring some of the more memorable explosive plays of Penn State’s season, graded out as fourth-best.

Determined to build on his early successes this season, and correct what hasn’t gone to plan, Strange is keeping his attention on the here and now as the Nittany Lions enter into an off weekend. Valuing the opportunity to self-scout and take in the evaluations of teammates and coaches, the next steps are clear.

Continuing on a path that has allowed Strange to stay true to himself while getting “better at everything” since last season, it’s one he intends to continue along.

“I’m the same player, the same exact player as last year,” he said. “I just prepared myself a little bit more this year, did what I needed to do in the offseason, and I think it’s paying off.”