Former Penn State OL and national analyst
@Landon Tengwall joined the CanesInSight Podcast to talk about the upcoming trench matchup in the national championship. A transcript of the discussion is below:
DMoney:
If you are on Twitter, if you are on YouTube, if you’re on CanesInSight.com, you have seen this guy’s content because he is absolutely killing it. Canes fans are loving it. Really in-depth stuff on the trenches, on football in general. Former Penn State offensive lineman, top-100 recruit, played the game, studies the game, loves the game, and he’s killing it right now. We had to bring him back on. That is Landon Tengwall. Landon, how we doing?
Landon Tengwall:
DMoney, what’s up, brother? Appreciate you having me back on.
DMoney:
By popular demand. You’re in the trenches, you’re on the message board. You’re on CanesInSight.com — 7.8 million posts and counting — and you’re out there posting stuff and getting great feedback. Message boards are dangerous, man. People can get at you sometimes, but they’re loving it.
Landon Tengwall:
Shout out — your message board is top notch. I love it. I’m even starting to consume some of my own Miami content on there. CanesInSight, it’s great stuff. You guys are doing a great job.
DMoney:
I appreciate you. Your videos between Twitter and YouTube — so many great things. The smaller cutups on Bain and Francis Mauigoa. The in-depth video on Miami’s defensive ends against Indiana’s tackles. The Ole Miss final-drive video. It’s hard to keep up, but it’s all really good.
That tackle versus end matchup — to me, this is kind of the game. Close to your heart as a former tackle. You’ve studied Miami’s defensive ends a ton. You’ve studied the tackles. You poured into that video. For those who haven’t watched it yet — they’re going to after this — what jumps out to you about Indiana’s tackles against Miami?
Landon Tengwall:
First thing: you’re not going to stop these defensive ends. If I’m Indiana’s offensive coordinator, I’m saying, “How can we slow these guys down?”
I went into it as an unbiased analysis. I looked at every tiny aspect. Between these two tackles and these D-ends, I don’t know if anyone on the planet besides the rooms in the Miami facility and the Indiana facility has watched more of this matchup than I have. I watched too much.
I studied every move Bain and Mesidor use. Then I went into Carter Smith, and at right tackle they mix guys. Kahlil Benson started this past game. He didn’t play much against Alabama — it was mainly Ajani, number 72. I studied both.
The biggest thing that stands out is I don’t think they’re that good of tackles — and I’m not saying that because I’m on a Canes channel. Right tackle is a known problem for them. That’s why they’re interchanging guys, and they’ve given up a lot of sacks on that side.
More interesting is Carter Smith at left tackle. He’s only allowed one pressure in the last four games. So I pop on his tape thinking, “What am I going to see?”
Funny enough, my offensive line trainer back home — big-time guy in the Maryland DMV, trains NFL guys — texted me before I even watched the Indiana tape. He said, “Have you watched Carter Smith yet? Let me know what you think because I’m not that impressed.” And this is a guy people already talk about as “he’s going to be a guard.”
He can’t move the way you want your tackle to move. And the biggest piece: his hands aren’t very good. He gets grabby. There are a lot of plays I thought should’ve been holding that weren’t called. He gets really outside — it’s not a straight-on punch; it’s hooking and grabbing jersey. He got called for a hold in the Alabama game when Mendoza rolled out and he yanked a guy down.
Overall, I have questions about these tackles — especially third-and-long when Miami gets into wide nines. When I see a wide nine out there, I’m thinking, “Oh crap,” because I’ve got to go backwards, get out of my stance, beat them to the spot — and we know how quick their get-off is. Their arm action is beautiful with Bain and Mesidor. They beat you to the spot, and they’ve got power moves on top of it.
If I feel you off balance, I’ll beat you around the edge. If we meet and I feel you off balance, I might put my helmet into your chest and bull rush you. That’s what makes it so hard.
Indiana has two or three tackles that aren’t that athletic. That’s where the worries come from. I don’t know how they cover these guys up.
So how do you scheme it? Their OC is going to have to roll protections, sprint-out protections, chip with backs and tight ends — take an extra second off the rush. Even if Bain is in a wide nine, if a tight end gets in his way for a half second, that’s a whole other second Mendoza can live in the pocket. You can’t leave these tackles one-on-one with Bain and Mesidor all day. That gets ugly quickly if Indiana wants to live in dropback passing.
DMoney:
You’ve studied Miami through this run — Texas A&M, Ohio State, Ole Miss — and now you’re stacking Indiana’s tackles into that. What’s different about this matchup, both personnel-wise and in the type of offense Indiana plays to counter some of what Miami brings?
Landon Tengwall:
When I made the tackle versus end video, I was super happy when I rewatched the Ohio State game because it’s similar to Indiana from an offensive standpoint. Julian Sayin holds the ball a little longer overall — his time to throw is around 2.9, Mendoza is around 2.7 — both hold it fairly long, but both will also go quick: RPOs, slants, hitches, outs. So there are similarities.
The tackles are incredibly similar too. Austin Siereveld at left tackle for Ohio State is similar to Carter Smith. He doesn’t have great movement. Good base, so he’s been good all year, but when he faced elite edges it got ugly. Same thing: not a good punch. If you’ve seen my Francis Mauigoa cutups, Francis has elite independent hand punch — strikes the chest. Carter Smith and Siereveld are grabby, get outside. They hunker down against bigger rushers because they’re strong, and if it’s a speed guy who only has speed, they survive. But when you face a rusher with speed and power and counters, that’s where they struggle.
On the right side, I saw similarities between Ohio State’s right tackle and Indiana’s right tackle situation. Benson struggles to get out of his stance. That’s the hardest thing. And that’s where you see Bain just bend the edge — beat you to the spot, rip, plant, and get straight down the line to the QB.
Then you add the interior. You’ve got Moten as an elite pass rusher. Justin Scott has rushed well lately. Now you’ve got wide nine stress, potential bull rush, and then the twists — you can get picked on a stunt where the tackle or end loops inside. This is why Miami’s D-line is so difficult. It’s elite talent mixed with elite coaching and scheme. Spacing them beautifully. You can run this because you trust your interior to hold gaps, because if you don’t have the dudes, you get gashed in the run game.
It’s a perfect formula. If Miami creates havoc for Mendoza and keeps the run game somewhat in check, that’s the path. No one has really done it yet this year. I’m excited to see Miami’s D-line try to interrupt what Indiana has going.
DMoney:
You’ve got me fired up. For those new to Landon’s work — this is what he does. Cutups, coaches film, details. Check him out.
You use a term I hadn’t really heard used the way you do: “shin angles.” I love it because it’s a clean visual for generating power. Talk about shin angles for the uninitiated.
Landon Tengwall:
I love this. My first ever film breakdown on YouTube — the intro was me talking about shin angles.
A lot of coaches think you have to gain ground with your first step. You can gain ground, but it’s about where the step lands. If my shin is straight up and down, you can’t accelerate. The laws of movement — acceleration is push off and stab back. That’s why track guys are in blocks: they’re already on an angle.
For offensive and defensive linemen, when your shin angles propel you into the direction you want to go, that’s the most efficient way to move. I studied a lot of mechanics as a player — not just football, but how the human body moves — and it all goes back to shin angles.
It goes into pushing the ground flat and away. If you push one direction, you go the other direction. Do you want your weight pushing out and up, or all pushing out? If it’s all pushing out, your weight goes forward.
Ankle flexion matters too. Some guys don’t have the ankle mobility to get there. That’s why I get juiced watching Francis Mauigoa just do anything — his movement is elite.
DMoney:
Bain has shin angles too. I remember a Miami staffer telling me they didn’t fully appreciate the importance of power until they saw guys like Bain and Francis Mauigoa early — power is obvious, but how they value it in projection has changed. As someone who played the position — long, athletic — how important is power? Is it something we should be emphasizing more when projecting guys?
Landon Tengwall:
Elite power with elite acceleration is the most dynamic thing. Especially in the trenches. When you have that combination, you become unstoppable.
A lot of people think power is just bench and squat. That’s part of it, but you need to understand leverage. How do you use it?
You’ll see tackles try to lift the defensive lineman up. People think it’s only about pushing them back, but the initial movement being up redirects their force into the air. Their energy goes nowhere. You take the energy out of their rush or run charge, and then you can drive them.
People say “low man wins.” Generally, sure, but the real term is the man with the most leverage wins. You can be the low man and still lose. It’s leverage.
That’s what Mirabal does a fantastic job with. Same with defensive ends understanding leverage in pass rush: when you’re at the top of the rush and you’ve been ridden out, you’ve got to counter — spin back in, shuck, work back in. Those guys understand leverage in a different way.
So when you have elite acceleration, elite power, and you know how to apply it, that’s when it gets dangerous. That’s what Miami has on both sides.
DMoney:
You’ve been generous with your time. One more question?
Landon Tengwall:
Absolutely. I got all day for you, DMoney.
DMoney:
Miami’s offensive line against Indiana’s defensive line. You did a lot before Ole Miss on their movement and how Miami would handle it. In the game, the run game seemed to catch movement well, but pass pro had some moments. Indiana moves a lot — maybe more disciplined and efficient than Ole Miss. How do you see Miami’s O-line stacking up against what Indiana does up front?
Landon Tengwall:
This is the best front seven in terms of “everybody does their job.” It’s impressive. They might not have the straight-up game wreckers like Bain, but everybody is really good and everybody does their job.
Linebackers stand out. Rolijah Hardy has about a 5% missed tackle rate and leads them in tackles — filthy. You’ll see him blitz a lot. Aiden Fisher, the middle linebacker, runs that defense and watches film like no other. Isaiah Jones, 46, gets sent on blitzes, comes off the edge, boxes in the run game. They trust each other. Fischer will fit outside to make sure there’s contain and trust his brothers to make the tackle inside. No Superman football — and that’s what’s impressive.
It’s not just the front seven. Their nickel Devan Boykin is one of the best tackling nickels I’ve ever seen. Louis Moore, the safety, a really nice tackler. They rally and they finish.
Up front, they lost two D-linemen to season-ending injuries and they’re still humming. Kamara, number six, good pass rusher — not elite movement, but he does his job. Inside is interesting because they’re smaller — that’s by design. They want to move, so you’re not going to have 330-pounders. Mario Landino is like 280-285 and holds it down. They’re going to shoot gaps, stunt the run game — stunts designed for the run game. Pick off the center, loop around, create chaos.
Sometimes the stunt doesn’t even get home, but it creates so much confusion that linebackers come free — and those linebackers are killers.
In the blitz and pass rush game, they study the heck out of protection calls. I know guys who played for their DC, Bryant Haines. They told me every day you’ve got a six-page “essay” on the offense. He wants every detail, every call from the year before. It’s not a coincidence they’re prepared.
On tape, you’ll see them present a look — three pressed up on one side — bait the OL into sliding that way, then two drop out and the pressure comes from the other side. I saw that over and over. It’s impressive work.
Miami’s O-line has been very good, especially in pass pro, and Mark Fletcher is the best pass-protecting RB in college football in my opinion. Where the stress shows is blitz pickup — stunts, twists — more than one-on-one rush. Texas A&M did it well. If there’s been a struggle, it’s that communication against movement. That’s the battle. Great coaches going at it. I’m excited to see what Mirabal has in store.
DMoney:
You’ve got a ton out and a ton coming. Tell Canes fans where they can find you leading up to this game and through the offseason.
Landon Tengwall:
Look up Landon Tengwall — Twitter, YouTube. It’s the Landon Teng Show on YouTube. Type in my name and it comes up.
We’ll have a ton of coverage. My plan is to cover all of college football. I’m only a year and a half into doing media. I started after I retired from football early due to concussions. I was tired of covering just Penn State — and we also sucked this year — so I ventured out and I’ve loved it.
I’ll be covering basically all the top 20 teams going into 2026. We’ll definitely have a Miami breakdown, but if you want other top teams too, we’ll have you equipped for the 2026 season.
