UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Barrel-chested defensive tackle Ollie Ogbu has managed to fly under the radar at Penn State.

He has had the privilege of playing on the same line as Aaron Maybin and Jared Odrick, first-team All-Americans and first-round NFL draft picks.

Ogbu, a fifth-year senior, has started 22 games the past two seasons and has played a key role in helping the Nittany Lions rank in the Top 10 in defense.

A year ago, while lining up alongside Odrick, Ogbu was named first-team honorable mention All-Big Ten. He registered 30 tackles, including eight for losses, forced a team-high three fumbles and had two sacks.

"I play the nose guard position, so just in general, you're not going to get a lot of glamour out of that position," Ogbu said.

"It feels good to be under the radar because no one is ever looking for you. And you can sneak up on people and have some pretty good games."

Ogbu, 6 feet 1 and 300 pounds, helped Penn State to a No. 6 national ranking last season in run defense, allowing 89.8 yards per game.

He is one of two full-time starters returning up front, joining junior end Jack Crawford. Other starters include redshirt junior end Eric Latimore, who made five starts last season, and redshirt junior tackle Devon Still, who is taking over for Odrick.

No. 19 Penn State, which opens its season today against Division I-AA Youngstown State at Beaver Stadium, has not allowed a 100-yard rusher in the past 16 games. It is the third-longest streak in the country, trailing Alabama and Ohio State.

"I think [the defensive line] is going to be as good as last year," Ogbu said. "Every year, I feel like everybody says the same thing, 'How good is your D-line going to be? You lost this All-American, you lost that All-American.' But every year, we keep having guys step up.

"[Still is] a big strong physical guy. He's shown flashes of rushing the passer that I haven't seen here since Jimmy Kennedy. I think Devon brings an enforcer role in there. He's really, really strong and he throws guys around.

"He's more like a bodyguard out there, holding things down in the middle."

Kennedy and Maurice Evans were two former standout defensive linemen from New York City who played for coach Joe Paterno in the past decade.

Ogbu, a native of Staten Island, N.Y., is one of seven Penn State players from the Empire State. He is on schedule to earn his degree in sociology in December.

"Ollie has a tough job at a tough position, but he handles it very well," defensive line coach Larry Johnson said.

Ogbu said he is inspired by his older brother, Adam, a Marine who died 10 years ago after collapsing during a training run in El Paso, Texas.

"He's one of my driving factors to do well," Ogbu said.

Earlier this week, he was elected one of Penn State's two captains in a vote conducted by the team. He called it quite an honor.

"It means so much," Ogbu said. "A lot of my friends the past couple of years have been captains. I was real close with Sean Lee and Daryll [Clark] last year and Josh Gaines and Terrell Golden [in previous seasons].

"It's a great feeling to know your team is behind you and they think you can be a leader for the team."

Ogbu doesn't worry too much about his personal statistics or gaining recognition. His only focus is to help Penn State win games. The Lions are 40-12 since he arrived on campus in 2006.

He said Penn State is not feeling any extra pressure to excel early in the season while untested true freshman starting quarterback Robert Bolden learns his way around.

"If you have the best offense in the world or the worst offense in the world, as a defense, you always want to go out there and stop somebody," Ogbu said. "There isn't any added pressure this year or any other year that we've had.

"It's always, 'Go out there and be one of the top defenses in the nation.' "

Ron Musselman's Penn State blog and videos are featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.