With less than two weeks until Penn State takes on Youngstown State, the mixing and matching of the spring and summer is starting to die down. The starting lineup and rotation is mostly set, and we’re taking a look as just how each position stacks up. We continue with a look at Penn State’s offensive line, which returns plenty of talent, though no starters at the positions they played a year ago.

Last year: Dennis Landolt held down the left tackle spot for Penn State, starting all 13 games. The same was true for Stefen Wisniewski at center, and Lou Eliades at right guard.  The right tackle and left guard spots weren’t so solid, with Ako Poti, De’Ontae Pannell, and Johnnie Troutman rotating through, each starting 8 games.

Key losses: Landolt and Poti both graduated, along with Nerraw McCormack, who started 1 game.

Overview: On the surface, it looks like Penn State’s offensive line was pretty good in 2009.  Penn State quarterbacks were sacked just 17 times–the second fewest in the Big Ten (behind only Michigan State). And Penn State ran for nearly 170 yards per game–ranking a respectable 41st in the country.  But simply looking at the statistics doesn’t tell the whole story.

2009 was a difficult year for Penn State’s offensive line, especially when you consider the players they were replacing.  A.Q. Shipley was the reigning Rimington Award winner as college football’s top center. If that wasn’t enough, both Gerald Cadogan and Rich Ohrnberger were 1st team all-Big Ten selections, too.  Sure, Stefen Wisniewski returned, and Landolt was steady enough, and had started each game at right tackle, but there were major question marks there.

In retrospect, we should’ve known it was going to be rough early on.  Penn State’s offensive line struggled mightily even in early season games against overmatched opponents like Akron, Syracuse, and Temple. When the out-of-conference slate gave way to Iowa, well, the results weren’t pretty.  Failures on the part of the offensive line led to a safety of Daryll Clark, and a punt-block-return touchdown by Adrian Clayborn.  Penn State tweaked the line after that–removing DeOn’tae Pannell from the starting lineup, and it worked well, until that unit took on a more talented Ohio State defensive line, which simply dominated the line of scrimmage.

That’s why, looking ahead to 2010, the line really isn’t that much of a question mark.  This is a team that went 11-2 with a suspect corps at the position last year, and you wonder, with the talent clearly there, how much worse it could be?  Consider that Penn State went from the beginning of the offseason to the end with the same starting line intact, there’s at least some consistency here.

Stefen Wisniewski is set to move back to his more natural guard position, which should allow him to anchor this unit, even if he’s not in the middle.  Wisniewski was solid last year–named a 1st team all-conference selection–but you could tell he looked uncomfortable at times–and he struggled snapping out of the shotgun.  Lou Eliades might have been Penn State’s steadiest lineman–and best run blocker–so moving him over one slot to tackle seems a natural enough fit.  And between Pannell and Troutman, who have plenty of experience and raw talent between them ought to be able to hold down the left guard spot.

But the most important position is the one with the most pressing concerns. Quinn Barham, an unknown to most casual fans before this spring, was tabbed as the starter, protecting the quarterback’s blind side.  He saw snaps in just 6 games, and all were at guard, mainly behind Lou Eliades.  Barham is a little on the small side–at under 300 pounds–and though his footwork and technique has drawn rave reviews, you wonder whether he’s got the raw strength to hold his own against such defensive ends as Adrian Clayborn and Thaddeus Gibson, especially without a dominant inline blocker like Mickey Shuler to take the pressure off.

The other new starter is Doug Klopacz, at center. Klopacz has had trouble seeing the field in his career thus far, stuck behind all-conference standouts in Shipley and Wisniewski at center, but as a fifth-year senior he’ll finally get his shot.  He wasn’t a big time recruit out of high school, but he’s locked up the position and held it throughout the spring and summer, even despite the whispers that Wisniewski was set to move back there if need be.

Three Questions:

1. Can Quinn Barham be effective? The left tackle position is easily the most important along the offensive line. Protecting the quarterback’s blind side and shutting down your opponents top pass rusher requires a significant talent.  When those pass rushers are Adrian Clayborn, Thaddeus Gibson, and Marcel Dareus, shutting them down takes a miracle. Barham doesn’t need to be the second coming of Michael Oher, but with a freshman quarterback who’s going to struggle making his reads, every split second counts. The offensive line had better hold up if Robert Bolden is going to survive the season.

2. Just how good can Stefen Wisniewski be? Wisniewski is following in a grand tradition in his family.  His uncle, Steve, might be the best guard Penn State’s ever had, and he’s ready to anoint his nephew as even better.  Little Wiz is so good that even playing out of position a year ago he was still Penn State’s best lineman, and the best center in the country.  I don’t think it would shock anyone if he held down that right guard spot with aplomb, and found himself an all-American in addition to all-Big Ten selection.

3. Will we see any of the youngsters? Penn State’s depth along the offensive line is very underclassman-heavy, with such former highly touted recruits as Eric Shrive, Adam Gress, and Matt Stankiewitch backing up the starters.  Penn State has been reluctant to break in some of these raw kids except in garbage time, but if Quinn Barham and Doug Klopacz struggle, there really won’t be much of a choice.

Extra Bonus Question: How many different alignments do we see along the offensive line? Last year, Penn State used 7 different starting sets in their 13 games.