Notre Dame recruiting: Major Irish recruiting target commits to Penn State

Despite Notre Dame recruiting Landon Tengwall heavily, one of the top recruiting targets of the Irish announced that he would be committing to Penn State.

The Notre Dame recruiting efforts took a major hit Thursday afternoon when five-star offensive lineman Landon Tengwall announced his commitment to Penn State.  Notre Dame was a major player in Tengwall’s recruitment, eventually making his final two along with Penn State.

The Maryland product is as talented as a high school offensive lineman as there is. Standing at 6’6″ and 300-pounds, Tengwall has an impressive frame and moves very well for his size. After watching his film, it’s clear why he’s ranked as a five-star caliber player.

So, where did it go wrong for Notre Dame in Tengwall’s decision?

It’s hard to tell definitely, but a good portion of it can be chalked up to being unlucky. Notre Dame was unable to get Tengwall on campus due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutting campus activities down, making his decision much easier. Tengwall was scheduled to visit on the huge recruiting weekend, originally planned for March 20th through the 22nd.

If the weekend had worked as initially planned, the Penn State commit would have been alongside Notre Dame 2021 commit Blake Fisher, as well as dozens of other players that could’ve helped to sway Tengwall to Notre Dame.

Tengwall, Rocco Spindler, and Blake Fisher talked on Twitter quite often about a “Big 3” offensive line playing together at Notre Dame. One would have to imagine that if the three of them were together on campus with the other 2021 guys such as Tyler Buchner, and Lorenzo Styles Jr., things may have worked out differently.

It seems likely that Notre Dame still may push for Tengwall behind-the-scenes and see if it can manage to get the talented prospect on campus in an effort to eventually commit to the Irish. The world is in uncharted territory at the moment and that does not exclude college football or recruiting.

Expect a lot of moving and changing as we continue to work towards the end of COVID-19.