UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Landon Tengwall has a chance to be the leader on Penn State's offensive line for several years, just as everyone expected when the prized recruit came on board last year.
If the Nittany Lions' O-line is ever going to become a strength of the program, instead of a glaring weakness, Tengwall figures to be a big part of the equation.
It's no secret that the O-line has been heavily criticized, or at least it's no secret to almost everyone. Tengwall says he has never paid any attention to that stuff, which may seem hard to believe, but some athletes are in fact capable of shutting out any and all outside noise.
"As far as like media and stuff like that, no, I don't listen any of that, man," the 6-foot-6, 330-pound Tengwall said at last week's Lift for Life. "I'm not into that stuff. If someone's giving me positive feedback, negative feedback online, neither of them affect me. I'm not really gonna take either of those. And you know, it's kind of just trying to block that out as best as possible."
There's no question, though, that Tengwall and everyone else within the Penn State program have to be fully aware that none of the team's goals can be attained unless the offensive line shows great progress this season.
How confident is Tengwall that it can happen?
"I think we're very confident," he said. "Obviously Coach (Phil) Trautwein is doing a great job. This offseason, we've been grinding every single day, and he's just pushing us.
"Really, as an offensive line, I think we're really starting to jell. I think everybody has been here for a little while now, and we're just excited to go out there in August and get ready to go."
Tengwall was the highest-rated member of Penn State's 2021 recruiting class, coming in at No. 54 in the nation, per 247Sports. There was a feeling when he arrived on campus that he was pretty close to being ready to play right away, so it actually came as a bit of a surprise that he wasn't used more during the Lions' tough 2021 season.
Tengwall didn't make his college debut until the Rutgers game in week 11, then also played against Michigan State and in the Outback Bowl against Arkansas.
Perhaps he should have played earlier and a lot more, but he did keep his redshirt appearing in just the three games.
"Last season, I was just playing my role," he said. "Whatever I could do to help the team win. Whatever Coach (James) Franklin and Coach Trautwein wanted me to do, I was gonna do to the best of my ability.
"Obviously it was great to get some playing time at the end of the year, get comfortable. Obviously it was amazing to travel all year, kind of get those experiences of being in different stadiums. Nothing's really like college football, especially in the Big Ten. So it was great to get those experiences."
This season will be about much different experiences for Tengwall. He's projected to be the starting left guard, and given the hype around him, everyone is expecting him to instantly be a major difference maker on the line.
Whether he can live up to expectations remains to be seen, but Tengwall sees everything he learned last year as a "big advantage."
"I kind of already know what to expect," he said. "I've been through all the big away games, all the prep that goes into that stuff. So obviously that's huge coming into this year."
There is a difference, however, between going through the prep work and actually lining up and performing out on the field.
"There's nothing like actually playing," Tengwall said. "I don't think anything can get you ready more than actually just going out there and doing it. But obviously getting experience -- Michigan State snowstorm, I'm sure that'll be up there when it's all said and done as one of the coolest games I've ever played. I mean, I've never played in a snowstorm before, so that was amazing. But getting that experience, nothing compares to that. So that's big for me."
Tengwall looks like a guy who can help Penn State's offensive line get better. But a big part of getting better up front has to be, not just mentality, but also philosophy with the Lions.
Their entire scheme last year seemed to be more of a finesse approach, where the linemen weren't being asked to explode off the ball and put defenders on their butts. As a result, the pass blocking was OK, but the run blocking was, in a word, pathetic, as Penn State had the second-worst rushing season in program history.
Tengwall was asked about the strategy and goals for the offensive linemen and what they hope to accomplish.
"Really, I think we just want to be dependable," he said. "That's a huge trait for an offensive line to be able to be depended on. And when it's crunch time, fourth quarter, we want the team to look at us and be like, we're about to run the ball, we're about to finish this game off with the offensive line. And I think that's kind of the mindset we're coming into this year with. We want to dominate up front."
Time will tell if this O-line in this program can finally be able to pull that off.
