Penn State offensive tackle Olu Fashanu was named a first-team All-American by Sporting News on Wednesday. The honor is his third first-team All-America selection by an NCAA-recognized outlet (Associated Press, AFCA, FWAA, Sporting News, Walter Camp), fulfilling the requirements to be a consensus All-American.
In terms of Penn State’s storied history, he is the Nittany Lions’ 41st player to earn consensus All-American status and the fourth player in the James Franklin era, joining Micah Parsons (2019), Saquon Barkley (2017) and Carl Nassib (2015). He is Penn State’s first offensive lineman to garner consensus All-American status since Jeff Hartings in 1995.
Overall, Fashanu marks Penn State’s 102nd first-team All-American in school history and the first Nittany Lion to receive a first-team selection since linebacker Micah Parsons in 2019. Fashanu is Penn State’s first offensive lineman to earn multiple first-team All-American nods from NCAA-recognized outlets since A.Q. Shipley in 2008 and the first offensive lineman to collect All-America honors from multiple NCAA-recognized outlets since Stefan Wisniewski in 2010.
In November, Fashanu was voted Rimington-Pace Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year and garnered first-team all-conference honors from the coaches and media.
No. 10 Penn State is set to make it first appearance in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl when the Nittany Lions take on No. 11 Ole Miss on Dec. 30. Kickoff is set for noon on ESPN at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. It is expected to be Fashanu’s final game at Penn State although he has not yet announced his intentions to enter the upcoming NFL Draft, where he is expected to be a top 10 draft choice by most projection outlets. Fashanu could technically return to Penn State for a final season of eligibility.
