Amidst the struggles of the Penn State football team last season was the wretched play of the offensive line.

While overshadowed by other distractions such as quarterback Rashard Casey's legal woes and the horrifying spinal cord injury of cornerback Adam Taliaferro, the line's poor play didn't go unnoticed by the Nittany Lion faithful.

While Penn State will forever be known as 'Linebacker U.', some pretty good lineman have made their presence felt in Happy Valley during the Nittany Lions 113 years of football.

In fact, 17 Nittany Lion offensive linemen have earned All-American status since Penn State began playing football in 1887.

So what happened to last year's bunch is a mystery. They certainly didn't resemble the pulverizing steamrollers of years past that made opposing defenders quiver.

For starters, injuries certainly wreakedhavoc on the starting lineup.

"I think the main problem has been with a lack of consistency with our line," junior tackle Matt Schmitt said. "If you look at any film from last year, I don't know if we had the same starting lineup for two weeks in a row. With an offensive line, you have to be able to form a trust and form a cohesiveness with the person next to you."

That's one thing the unit has been working on this spring, not only on the gridiron, but off the field as well.

"Last year we had a lot of pressure but this year has been more of a family environment," Schmitt said. "I really enjoy myself more playing this winter and spring ball more than last year's. This year we're more of a family. We're a little bit closer to each other and we're just working on having a better year."

Aside from developing better chemistry, offensive line coach Bill Kenney said improvements can only be made by working on fundamentals.

"Our focus a lot of times this spring has been on little things like our stances and starts," Kenney said. "You want to improve on your pass protection and your run blocking as well, but those get better by working on these things."

Paterno said it will be tough to nail down a definite first and second string by the conclusion of the Blue-White game tomorrow.

"I don't have any idea what the depth is going to be and that will have to work itself out," Paterno said. I am not going to get into who is one, two and three except, I think, in something that is as visible as the quarterback situation where we only have one guy coming back who has played any football."

The injuries and lack of cohesion was obvious as the Penn State offense ranked tenth in rushing offense and surrendered 34 sacks, which looks even worse considering an athlete as gifted as Rashard Casey was playing quarterback.

The one positive the unit may have taken from last season is experience. While the Lions have lost Kareem McKenzie, Imani Bell, Josh Mitchell and Jordan Caruso to graduation, several players who have starting experience return to the lineup.

Schmitt has moved from center to tackle and figures to hold down a starting job.

"I had never played center before in my life and it was extremely hard to learn how to snap the ball and move at the same time," Schmitt said. "Tackle is a more natural position because I played a lot of it in high school and a lot of it here."

Senior Gus Felder is in top contention to man the other tackle spot.

Senior Joe Hartings started many games last season and figures to see plenty of action at guard this fall. Junior Tyler Lenda converted to guard last season and actually earned a few starts after coming to Penn State as a tight end. Although Hartings (6'4", 265 lbs.) and Lenda (6'3", 278 lbs.) appear to lack the gigantic size of the typical Big 10 lineman, Kenney doesn't seem too concerned.

"Jeff Hartings (Joe's older brother) played guard here at 275 pounds and he's turned out to be an All-Pro in the NFL so the size issue may be blown out of proportion a little bit," Kenney said. "Tyler is really having a nice spring. We moved him to guard last year and it was really a learning experience for him. He's playing with a lot more confidence right now. He's pound for pound one of the strongest guys on the team."

The center spot seems to be in good hands with juniors Joe Iorio and Eric Rickenbach battling it out for the top spot.

Sophomores Damone Jones and Chris McKelvy along with redshirt freshman Nick Marmo should provide quality depth up and down the line.

"We're really getting at it this spring," Schmitt said. "We're really working hard to make what coach calls that 'championship second' of staying on the blocks longer. We're striving for perfection."