All 105 is a Nittany Sports Now series profiling each Penn State football player. This edition will look at redshirt senior offensive lineman Hunter Nourzad.
Height: 6-foot-3
Weight: 315 pounds
Hometown: Marietta, Georgia
Before Penn State
Cornell: Nourzad transferred to Penn State this past offseason after four years playing Ivy League football at Cornell.
After not playing time as a freshman, Nourzad became a full-time starter in 2019 and earned second-team all-conference honors. Nourzad wasn’t able to build on that success in 2020 due to the Ivy League cancelling its season, but came back the next season to earn first-team all-Ivy League. Nourzad also received All-America accolades from the AFCA (second-team) and Phil Steele (third-team). Steele also picked Nourzad as his Ivy League Offensive Lineman of the Year.
Nourzad entered the transfer portal in late last November and picked Penn State in early February.
Where he stands: If nothing else, Nourzad will be an excellent depth piece to an offensive line that struggled greatly in 2021, and he’ll receive plenty of playing time as long as he’s healthy.
But there’s a decent chance Nourzad is Penn State’s starting right guard at some point in 2022.
Although Sal Wormley is the favorite right now, Wormley is coming off a lost season due to injury and has only played in four games over his three years at Penn State.
Wormley has more experience competing against Power Five players, which might give him a slight edge right now. But if Wormley struggles, don’t be surprised to see Nourzad unseat him.
Nourzad is also capable of playing left guard should projected starter Landon Tengwall get hurt or underperform.
A quote about Nourzad: At Penn State’s media day Aug. 6, coach James Franklin said Nourzad will be a big contributor for Penn State at some point this season.
”Whether it’s Game 1 or Game 4, we’ll see,” Franklin said in his press conference, “but he’s going to have a significant role. “But it’s too early to say right now how it’s going to play out.”
