Penn State’s James Franklin cites 'much more physical' offensive line during win over FIU

Penn State’s offensive line is still rounding into form with the No. 2 Nittany Lions preparing for a visit from Villanova, an FCS program, Saturday afternoon.

James Franklin said Monday he saw significant improvement from a veteran group led by five players who had prominent roles last season — tackles Drew Shelton and Nolan Rucci, guard-center Anthony Donkoh, second-team All-Big Ten guard Vega Ioane and center Nick Dawkins.

PSU also considers second-year interior lineman Cooper Cousins and Texas A&M transfer guard TJ Shanahan starting-caliber players.

After Nevada held PSU’s run game to 3.8 yards per carry in Penn State’s season opener, the Lions ran for 209 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-0 win over Florida International on Saturday.

The Lions averaged 6.7 yards per carry, fueled by running back Kaytron Allen’s 144-yard effort and his career-long 67-yard scoring run.

“I thought Week 2 … we were much more physical, much more physical,” Franklin said when asked about his O-line.

“I think in today’s college football, if you’re not careful, what can happen sometimes is, very rarely do we practice live. … We don’t want guys on the ground, so you don’t want your offensive line finishing guys.”

Franklin continued: “If you’re not careful, (the linemen) haven’t done that but maybe two or three times during training camp.

“You get to the game and that’s what you want, but you haven’t been practicing it that way. I thought that showed up a little bit in Week 1. Week 2, I thought we were much more physical.”

Franklin said there are still some areas that must be “cleaned” up, such as Allen and Nick Singleton making the free defender miss on some running plays.

Additionally, there have been times when Penn State hasn’t identified the defensive front in an “ideal way,” according to Franklin.

“That happens sometimes,” Franklin said. “(Defenses) do a good job disguising where the pressure’s coming from.”

Franklin also addressed the lofty expectations surrounding this team and its offensive line.

Allen and Singleton both ran for more than 1,000 yards in 2024 as PSU amassed 3,237 rushing yards and 35 rushing touchdowns in 16 games.

“Obviously, there’s such high expectations for that group coming into the season and deservedly so,” Franklin said of his offensive line. “That plays a part in it. I think they’ll play very well this week.

“I think we’ll look back at this O-line this year and feel like they were one of the better offensive lines we’ve had.”