This weekend's matchup between the Penn State Nittany Lions and Washington Huskies will present a unique opportunity for Nittany Lions' offensive lineman Vega Ioane.
When the Nittany Lions and Huskies lineup on Saturday, Ioane will be playing against the program he once was committed to. The Huskies also represent Ioane's "hometown" program, even though he didn’t really grow up a big football fan.
"Oh yeah," Ioane said when asked about this weekend's matchup having a unique vibe for him. "Playing a hometown team who I was committed to, and I guess people see it, like a rivalry type of game," Ioane elaborated.
"I've seen some people saying that, you know, I made a mistake coming here. I'm going to find out Saturday, but we'll see. You know never really know how games are going to go," he added.
"They were my first offer, the whole coaching staff, Coach (Jimmy) Lake. I was close with them, but they all get let go. So, you know, things weren't really working out with them, so I decommitted," Ioane said as he recalled his recruitment.
Ioane was a three-star prospect in the 2022 recruiting class out of Graham-Kapowsin HIgh School in Graham, Washington about an hour and 15 minute drive from the University of Washington campus.
Ioane originally committed to the Huskies in June of 2021 when they were being led by head coach Jimmy Lake. However, after a 4-5 start to the season and being suspended for a game following him hitting a Huskies player on the sideline, Lake was fired just halfway through his second season.
Ioane would open up his recruitment in mid-December in 2021. Around the same time that Ioane decommitted from the Huskies, the Nittany Lions hired Stacy Collins to be the program's new special teams coordinator.
While Boise State didn't originally offer Ioane, Collins and Ioane were familiar with each other and the then new Nittany Lions special teams coordinator helped spearhead the ercrutiment alongside offensive line coach Phil Tratuwein. Ioane would eventually visit Penn State in late January and then ended up committing to the Nittany Lions on National Signing Day 2022.
Two-and-half years later, Ioane has become an intregal part to the Nittany Lions offense and while his situation is unique to him this week, the redshirt sophomore guard remains focused on the main goal for Penn State this weekend. "They're a really good team, so you know we're going to be out there playing our hearts out."
He was specifically highly complementary to the Huskies defensive line. "They're great players. They're a respectable team. I'd say they're a great team, great athletes upfront. The boys play hard, it's going to be exciting to play them. I know a few of them, they're hard players. You know they're big guys in front, teams like Michigan, who have been known for their offensive lines for the last couple years struggled moving them off the ball, but you know, I think we're a different team this year. So, I think we'll do all right."
Of course, Ioane and the Nittany Lions are still looking to move on from last weekend's disappointing result against Ohio State. "We got a whole lot of season left. We got a whole lot more to fight for," he said. "So, you know being down and being stuck on the loss, doesn't really matter anymore. We have a whole lot left to work for. We still compete for a national championship, Big Ten championship. It's just how we react after that game, move forward. We're doing our best as we can to never feel like that again."
With four regular season games left and potentially the College Football Playoffs, Ioane also knows he has a lot to improve on going forward.
"For me, I have a lot to improve on. Coach (Kotelnicki) says it just about every week, 'The biggest room in the world is room for improvement," he said. "Just got to keep improving, you know, focus on little things."
Penn State and Ioane will take on the Washington Huskies this Saturday evening at 8:00 p.m. in the program's annual White Out. The game is set to be streamed on Peacock.
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