Penn State guard Will Fries sees improvement in offensive line play

From a near cancellation because of the coronavirus pandemic to a putrid 0-5 start for the first time in program history, quite a few things have been dramatically different for Penn State’s football team this season.

Add another new experience for them when they travel to Piscataway, N.J. for Saturday’s game against Rutgers.

Big Ten football in December.

Typically, the Big Ten concludes its regular season in late November on the weekend after Thanksgiving.

But “typically” logged off and left the chat quite a while ago as it pertains to Penn State, the Big Ten and college football in general.

As a result, Penn State will be playing regular season games in the final month of 2020.

Right guard Will Fries has a unique terminology for that part of the calendar.

“The ‘lineman weather’ is great,” Fries said during a video conference with media on Tuesday. “The cold, less sweating as opposed to those (hotter) months, is definitely way better. Maybe some snow would be cool to see in December. Definitely going to enjoy the ‘lineman weather’ for the next few weeks.”

Fries and his fellow offensive linemen are eager to enjoy the rare bit of success they saw during a 27-17 road win against Michigan this past Saturday.

Not only was it Penn State’s first win of the season. It was also only the second contest in which a Penn State quarterback wasn’t sacked multiple times.

For the season, Penn State has allowed a conference-high 21 sacks. Ohio State is second with 12.

“It’s not perfect, nor will it be,” Fries said. “But it’s a process of getting better every week. (The coaches) brought in a lot of new techniques and these things take time and (repetitions). Just need more (repetitions) to get better at them. As the weeks progress, I think we’re getting better as an offensive line each and every week. We’re focusing on the little details. … We’re just going to keep grinding into those details, keep grinding into the techniques so we can keep going out there and playing better each week.”

Part of that success in keeping quarterback Sean Clifford upright was rooted in the fact that Penn State rushed for a season-best 254 yards against Michigan.

The bulk of that was done by Keyvone Lee who tallied 134 yards on 22 carries.

His approach has provided a boost for those blocking for him.

“I first kind of noticed it in the (season-opening 36-35 overtime road loss to Indiana on Oct. 24) when he stepped in and played a huge role.” Fries said. “Playing a lot in the game, I’m just making a block and I see him run through the hole and hit it hard. He’s a big strong kid.

“That kind of thing makes an offensive line feel really OK. Let’s keep grinding the ball. Let’s keep giving Keyvone the ball. Let’s keep moving it down the field. Seeing the way he runs, seeing how hard he runs kind of bolsters the confidence of the whole offense and definitely the offensive line.”

While little has gone as planned for Penn State this season, Fries suggests he and his teammates on the offensive line are trending in the right direction.

“We got better at definitely run blocking,” Fries said. “We see guys striking defenders more, running off the ball as opposed to where we were last year. Week by week, we see strike, the movement off the ball has definitely been a big improvement. … You see guys, all across the board, playing with better technique, playing in better positions, using their punch, things like that.”