Penn State has won its first two games of the season. Now, the first of the Nittany Lions’ two key stretches begins.

Afforded two bye weeks, Penn State is finished with its first for the 2024 campaign. Sunday, the Nittany Lions will return to game-week practices, having worked to sort out shortcomings and bumps and bruises that emerged in the season’s initial offerings.

Where do the Nittany Lions stand in that process?

Blue White Illustrated is taking an early survey of the team’s position groups to better understand its areas of strength, vulnerability, and the outstanding questions throughout the spectrum that will come to define its successes and shortcomings the rest of the way. That exercise wraps offensively today with Penn State’s offensive line position. 

Past updates: Running backs – Receivers – Tight ends – Quarterback

Penn State football bye week breakdown: Offensive Line

For a position group without many direct statistics to reflect performance, the initial output for the Nittany Lions’ retooled offensive line has been mostly good. Penn State has allowed just two sacks from its pass protection. And, at 228 yards per game on the ground, the rushing offense was 25th nationally through two weeks. A deeper dive into pressures allowed, according to Pro Football Focus’ analytics, shows a slightly more complicated picture. To this point, 10 pass rushes have been allowed by the group over two games.

(But, an argument could be made that at least one of the sacks, Allar’s 23-yard loss in the third quarter of the Nittany Lions’ win over Bowling Green, could and should have been avoided with a throwaway.)

Expected to face challenges after losing two starting tackles and a center this offseason, the trio of Drew Shelton, Anthony Donkoh, and Nick Dawkins has been more good than bad. And, both Olaivavega Ioane and Sal Wormley have been predictably reliable and strong at the guard spots. Ioane has the highest pass protection grade of the starters according to PFF.

That is not to say there aren’t or shouldn’t be concerns, though.

As described by T. Frank Carr on Saturday, the two tackle positions have been a source of unease for the Nittany Lions. Shelton had a nice enough afternoon in Morgantown. But a “below-average game against Bowling Green” followed. It showed up in the form of three pressures allowed, including on a three-man rush.

Opposite Shelton, Donkoh’s pass protection has at times been problematic. From the story: “In true passing situations, he’s allowed four pressures and has a pass-blocking efficiency of 87.5. That figure puts him tied for 31st among 34 Big Ten tackles with 35 or more pass-blocking snaps through two games.”

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