White 27, Blue 0
Quarterback Drew Allar threw for 202 yards and freshman running back Quinton Martin scored two touchdowns as the White Team dominated play in a 27-0 victory over the Blue Team in the annual Blue-White Game at Beaver Stadium on Saturday, April 13.
The White Team took a 10-0 halftime lead on a touchdown by Martin and a field goal, then pulled away with 17 points more in the fourth quarter that put an exclamation point on the win.
Martin scored another touchdown in the fourth quarter, and redshirt freshman tight end Andrew Rappleyea finished the scoring with a 30-yard touchdown pass from Allar with just 28 seconds to play in the game.
In all, the White Team finished with a significant statistical advantage in almost every category, including passing yards, total yards, plays and time of possession.
But most of that was almost to be expected because the White Team was stacked with many more of the returning starters from 2023 and possible new starters for the upcoming season.
Still, there were some encouraging signs with the play of both teams and some of the new additions, especially Martin and sophomore transfer A.J. Harris.
Martin ran for 34 yards on six carries (for both teams) and scored the two touchdowns on runs of 9 and 12 yards, while Harris had seven tackles from his defensive back position and two tackles for loss. He also broke up a pass and was overall very impressive in his Beaver Stadium debut.
As far as revealing what is in store for Penn State fans with this team in the fall, well, there was not much.
Many starters did not play, such as running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, and most of the offenses and defenses were standard issue.
Still, the game put a positive finish on what must have been a very busy spring camp filled with new ideas and procedures. It was a complete success.
“I thought we had 15 really competitive, really physical practices,” Penn State head coach James Franklin said. “I thought today was good. We got a lot of work in; got a bunch of situations covered. I thought it was really good, and we were able to stay healthy today.”
“I was pleased how this spring laid a foundation to go into summer camp with really good competition. We do have some work to do, obviously, but I like the foundation we laid this spring.”
With all the moving around, substitutions and situations in the game — which at times looked like a practice — it may have been easy to miss things. So we finish here with our first spring edition of:
DID YOU NOTICE? …
- It was windy. So much so that passes and kicks were blown all over the place. The quarterbacks had it especially tough, going only a combined 24-for-51 for 238 yards and two touchdowns.
- There was lots of talk after last season about explosive plays by the PSU offense, so this may help: there were eight big plays in the game of over 15 yards, six passes and two runs. The longest plays of the day were two 30-yards passes by Allar, one to Kaden Saunders and the other to Rappleyea.
- The White Team had two interceptions, one by Zakee Wheatley and one by Amin Vanover.
- The whole White Team defense was outstanding all day, and all eyes were on former linebacker and new defensive end Abdul Carter. He did not disappoint.
- Redshirt freshman Cam Wallace actually led the White Team in rushing with 36 yards on seven carries.
- Fourteen different receivers caught passes in the game, led by the White Team’s Harrison Wallace with five catches for 72 yards and a long of 20. Wallace was one of the most talked-about players after the game.
- Beau Pribula played for both teams, throwing a total of 10 passes and running 11 times.
- For the second year in a row, Drew Allar passed for 202 yards in the Blue-White Game.
- The Spring Practice Award went to sophomore Audavion Collins; the Jim O’Hora Award, to junior Liam Clifford; the Red Worrell Award, to junior Riley Thompson; the Coaches Special Team Award to junior Riley Thompson and Cam Miller and Nick Dawkins were given the Frank Patrick Memorial Total Commitment Award.
- There were an estimated 67,000 people at the game.
- There are 138 days until opening day in Morgantown, West Virginia.
- Did we mention that it was windy?
