The cancellation of spring games is sweeping the nation. On Wednesday, it was reported by Ryan Kartje of the Los Angeles Times that USC will join Ohio State and Nebraska in putting aside the traditional format of its annual spring showcase. It’s expected that other programs will follow suit, but Penn State remains in position to host its spring scrimmage in Beaver Stadium on April 26.
There are a number of reasons coaches have backed away from the event. Cornhuskers coach Matt Rhule cited widespread tampering in college football while Texas coach Steve Sarkisian, who announced the cancellation of his team’s spring game on Thursday, tied his decision with the increased length of the season.
“We will still have the spring game because I know what it means to this community and the hotels and the bars and the restaurants and the tailgating and all of it,” James Franklin told reporters last week. “We’re working on that now. We may do some more events that we’re still working through, but I don’t want to speak on them too early.”
An estimated 67,000 fans attended last year’s Blue-White Game, trailing just Alabama as the most well-attended spring scrimmage in the country. While admission is free, there is money to be made from parking and concessions. It’s been proven a worthwhile event in terms of revenue generation, both for the athletic department and the surrounding State College community.
The format has been altered for nearly each of the past three games, but attendance hasn’t dipped below 60,000 over that stretch. In 2022, a shortage of offensive linemen brought forth a change before the program returned to a more traditional format, with limited participation from starters, over the next two years.
This year’s scrimmage structure will again undergo some “modifications,” Franklin said, the specifics of which remain unclear. He did, however, say the format should look “very similar” to what was put on display in 2023, when standout offensive lineman Olu Fashanu was sidelined and a number of other key players saw little playing time.
“It’s kind of like teaching. You’re trying to teach a class, and you got all this different ability within that class,” Franklin said. “And you got some people in the class that really need to be challenged at a very high level. And you got some people that just showed up that are entry level. You’re trying to reach all of them, which is challenging. I think it’s the same way with us.
“If we modify spring ball, then all these guys that are fighting for jobs that need to be evaluated, need to be developed, they’re losing it and they need it.”
Franklin said that player involvement in this year’s spring game will revolve around four key attributes: age, experience, reps last year and total career reps. So, it’s safe to assume players like three-year starters Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen will be limited in place of second-year running backs Quinton Martin Jr. and Corey Smith, who are fighting for a boost up the depth chart.
“There are some guys that still need a ton of reps,” Franklin said, “and there’s some guys that still have to get better, but you limit them.”
The task force of deciding who will play in Penn State’s spring game will consist of Franklin, his position coaches, the sports science department and strength and conditioning coach Chuck Losey. It’s possible that due to the addition of new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, an emphasis is put on defensive players to integrate themselves within his system.
“They need reps within that, but there’s ways of doing that, making sure the vets are getting all the jog-through reps and things like that,” Franklin said. “So that’ll be our approach this spring game. We’ll wait to talk about that in more detail, so that myself, the coaches, the administration, everybody’s on the same page.
“At a place like Penn State, I locked my date in for the spring game a while ago, because there’s so many things at the university that are built around the game, in terms of development, fundraising, all types of events that the university has. So we don’t have a whole lot of flexibility there.”
