Penn State football’s offensive line experienced a lot of player turnover heading into this season.

Olu Fashanu, one of the best linemen in the country last season, was drafted No. 11 overall by the New York Jets, Caedan Wallace was taken at No. 68 by the New England Patriots, and Hunter Nourzad was taken 159th by the Kansas City Chiefs.

Last year’s line ended the season ranked 17th in the nation in sacks allowed with 16 while paving the way for Penn State’s ground game, which put up 2,403 yards on the ground a season ago.

Needing three new starters on the line seemed like it could be an issue for the 2024 Nittany Lions, but it’s been anything but.

Redshirt senior Nick Dawkins has taken over as the starting center while redshirt sophomore Vega Ioane, junior Drew Shelton, redshirt junior Nolan Rucci, and redshirt senior Sal Wormley round out the starting personnel heading into this Saturday’s College Football Playoff matchup. Redshirt freshman Anthony Donkoh was the starting right tackle until he suffered a long-term injury against Minnesota, where Rucci took over.

While the new group had high production to math, Dawkins said it was never a daunting prospect. Instead, he kept his same routine and prepared for the 2024 season like he had every other.

“I didn’t really feel any pressure,” Dawkins said. “This is exactly why I came to Penn State to play, to start, to contribute in a serious manner.”

Dawkins, and the rest of the offensive line room, have done just that. After the Big Ten Championship, the Nittany Lions have played 13 games, the same number as all of last season. Thus far, they’ve allowed only 12 sacks and aided in the run game’s 2,628 yards on the ground.

While Rucci will start this Saturday against SMU, Donkoh held the job for the majority of the year. Rucci was a large piece of the rotation this season but has seen extended action since Donkoh went down.

Rucci transferred in from Wisconsin in January and quickly adapted to the Penn State program after immediately inserting himself into a battle for the starting position.

“Rucci showed up here after really not playing a whole lot for three years, if I’m correct in the numbers there, and really has thrived,” James Franklin said. “He’s gotten bigger and stronger, dramatically, since he arrived on campus, and his confidence just continues to grow, grow, grow. He’s playing great.”

Against Oregon, the line had one of its best games of the season. The Nittany Lions ran the ball better than they had since the beginning of the season and held the Oregon defense to one sack.

Even though the Nittany Lions dropped the Big Ten Championship, the offensive line has a string of successes throughout the regular season to build off of going into Saturday.

“Our expectation is that’s what we’re supposed to do every single game, so I don’t think it matters the opponent that we played against,” Dawkins said. “As long as we’re doing what we’re supposed to do and handling our business and picking up our assignments, I think that’s a confidence booster.”