Blue White Illustrated

man class. Penn State president Eric Barron said in a news release that the decision to prioritize first-year students was aimed at providing them with an experience that every previous freshman class was able to enjoy but that they were denied last fall. "Because of the pandemic, these stu- dents have missed out on this special tradition of cheering on the Nittany Lions, and we hope this will be a memo- rable way for them to gather together and celebrate the final practice of the spring," Barron said. "While we are excited to offer this in-person opportunity, stu- dents must continue to do their part by following health and safety guidelines to bring this opportunity to fruition." The scrimmage will feature some of Penn State's familiar game day tradi- tions, such as the team entrance and the singing of the alma mater. The Blue Band will perform, as will the cheerlead- ing and dance squads. Even so, no one will mistake this for a typical Blue-White Game. Attendees will be required to wear facemasks at all times and practice social distancing. To keep fans from gathering outside the stadium, the university will keep the parking lots closed and will not permit tailgating. In another departure from tradition, the game will not air on TV, and there will be limited media attendance. That decision may have something to do with the arrival of offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich and Penn State's need to get a new offense installed this spring. James Franklin said in March that spring games tend to be "pretty vanilla" be- cause coaches don't want to give their upcoming opponents a head start on scouting them. That poses a dilemma for the Nittany Lions this year. They don't want to water down any of their practices given the amount of work that needs to be accomplished this spring, Penn State made one ;nal addition to its recruiting sta< in March, adding former Nittany Lion cornerback Alan Zemaitis as an assistant recruiting co- ordinator. A former All-American and team captain, Zemaitis was part of Penn State's historic 2005 team, which claimed a Big Ten champi- onship and defeated Florida State in triple overtime in the Or- ange Bowl. That sea- son, Zemaitis had ;ve interceptions, as well as 47 tackles, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. He was a semi;nalist for the Jim Thorpe Award his junior and senior season, which is given annually to the nation's top de- fensive back. He was a three-year starter for the Nittany Lions, earning All-Big Ten honors each of those sea- sons. A=er wrapping up his college career, Zemaitis was chosen by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the fourth round of the 2006 NFL Dra=. He spent two seasons with the Bucs but saw limited action due to injuries. He then spent a season in the Canadian Football League in 2008 with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats before bringing an end to his profes- sional career. Before joining the sta< at his alma mater, Zemaitis spent eight seasons at Susquehanna University as an assis- tant coach. He had been serving as special teams coordinator, safeties coach and assistant strength and con- ditioning coach for the River Hawks, who compete at the Division III level. James Franklin said he had gotten to know Zemaitis in recent years while the former Nittany Lion standout was working the school's summer football camps. The eighth-year Penn State head coach said he welcomed the op- portunity to bring in another sta

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