For years, Penn State football’s offensive line has been one of the team’s most glaring weaknesses.

Despite optimism heading into the 2017 season, the offensive line still saw some tough performances and even indicated play calls to Michigan State’s defense during the Nittany Lions’ 27-24 loss to the Spartans in 2017.

In 2017, Penn State allowed 46 sacks in 13 games, including a season-high 13 in the team’s first loss of the season to Ohio State. Star tailback Saquon Barkley had an extremely strong season, but even he was bottled up against the Buckeyes, Northwestern, and Michigan State outside of a few big plays.

Head coach James Franklin and offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne expressed similar optimism at Big Ten Media Days and Penn State’s media day, respectively. Despite public perception of his offensive line, Rahne never believed it was a weakness.

“We’ve had pretty good offenses over the last two years,” Rahne said on Saturday at Beaver Stadium. “There were five guys out there who were blocking, so I think that the perception of our offensive line is probably not accurate. We understand that we have talented football players carrying the football and throwing it and things like that but there are guys who are opening up those holes and doing those sort of things.”

The first-year offensive coordinator praised offensive line coach Matt Limegrover for the culture he’s built among his group. Rahne also credited the linemen themselves for being driven and being able to have fun and keep their main focus on football at the same time.

Rahne is excited to see the competition between the offensive linemen play out throughout the season, but also wants the unit to be more consistent.

“I’m really just looking forward to the consistency that those guys are going to bring,” he said, “but also the competition within that room that is going to allow us to be better day-in and day-out, but also be better as the season progresses.”

As far as personnel is concerned, the offensive line should look very familiar to Penn State fans. Ryan Bates, Will Fries, Connor McGovern, and Steven Gonzalez will all return to the starting lineup this season. Bates and Fries each started as redshirt freshmen, while McGovern has appeared regularly for two seasons. Last season, Gonzalez started in all 13 games.

The unit has gained experience playing together, as there hasn’t been much turnover up front. Andrew Nelson was the most experienced player in the offensive line room, but the graduate senior ran out of eligibility and isn’t back this year.

Last year, the offensive line had plenty of expectations, but failed to live up to them in certain big games. With even more experience and a lack of turnover amongst the group, the line should one of the stronger points of the offense in front of Trace McSorley and Miles Sanders.