Blue White Illustrated

April 18 Newsletter

Penn State Sports Magazine

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A P R I L 1 8 , 2 0 1 5 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 2 practice of his program's second spring session, what was or was not on display in front of the 68,000 reported fans at Beaver Stadium will be of little impor- tance. No, he said following the Blue's 17-7 "win" against the White squad, his satisfaction will stem primarily from another source. "We stayed healthy, which is the most important thing, especially in our situa- tion," he said, flanked by his daughters, Shola and Addy, in the postgame media room. With that, he announced, his pro- gram got exactly what it wanted out of the yearly scrimmage that has become as much of an event as it is an opportunity to evaluate talent. Encouraged by the program's progres- sion back to the NCAA's 85-scholarship limit with its latest recruiting class, and an evolving roster that is maturing before his eyes, Franklin holds no misconcep- tions regarding the work that remains before his Nittany Lions open the season at Temple on Sept. 5. Still, he said, the game was simply a confirmation of the progress he's seen throughout the spring and the overall improvement from what he'd inherited more than 16 months prior. "We had two real teams. We didn't end up having to run guys from one side to the other, so guys got a bunch of reps," he said, referencing an offensive line that featured as few as nine healthy bodies at times last spring. "So I think overall, we had a really effective spring." Certainly, the flashes of potential in the game suggested the positives that could accompany the 2015 season. Led by quarterback Christian Hacken- berg's precision passing, the Blue team's first possession of the game spanned 65 yards in nine plays, aided by a hands-to- the-face penalty against the White's de- fense and capped by a 22-yard Akeel Lynch touchdown jaunt on a delayed draw. Finishing the aBernoon with nine carries for 50 yards and the touchdown, Lynch provided the Blue with an early lead it wouldn't relinquish. Under traditional Blue-White Game circumstances, the early score might have brought an end to Hackenberg's afternoon. Not on this Saturday, though, as Trace McSorley's absence due to an unspecified minor injury left the former Big Ten Freshman of the Year to play out the rest of the game. He completed 17 of 29 passes for 180 yards and a 2-yard touchdown to sophomore wideout Saeed Blacknall in the third quarter, his day marred only by one un- derthrown interception later in the pe- riod. "Obviously, we had a plan for Trace McSorley to play a good portion of the game," Franklin said. "We were going to play Christian [Hackenberg] for a series or two, but we weren't able to use Trace today, so that's why Christian got a lot more reps than we intended." For the White squad, January enrollee quarterback Tommy Stevens completed 3 of 11 attempts for 19 yards in his first Penn State appearance. Redshirt fresh- man running back Nick Scott, mean- while, managed to cut the deficit to 10-7 with his eye-opening 51-yard third- quarter touchdown carry. Bouncing off an Anthony Zettel collision up the mid- dle, Scott may (or may not) have kept his balance well enough to skirt through traffic and burst upfield to complete the score. Said Franklin, "It was great to see some of the running backs like Nick Scott and Akeel Lynch make some plays." Defensively, reasons for coordinator Bob Shoop's postgame optimism were seemingly ever present. With ends Evan Schwan and Curtis Cothran each producing a pair of sacks, the White defense terrorized Penn State's first-string offensive line all af- ternoon. Finishing with five sacks for the day, Shoop's defense took particular ad- vantage of juco transfer Paris Palmer's inexperience starting at leB tackle and the absence of starter Andrew Nelson at right tackle following the first quarter. Expressing equal parts contentment and concern for the defensive and offen- sive lines, respectively, Franklin insisted that while his offensive front remains a work in progress, it is far ahead of its sta- tus a year ago. Said Franklin, "As a group, we still have a situation now where we still have guys trying to learn leB tackle, which I think showed up at times today. But as a group, four out of the five in to- tality of it, we still have a lot of work to do. "It wasn't going to be like we were going to be able to flip a switch and it's going to change overnight. I am confi- dent that between now and the start of camp, we can take another step and then continue to grow during camp and be ready to go." Expecting the return of every absent Nittany Lion from the contest, including McSorley, Wartman, Chris Godwin, De- Andre Thompkins, Adam Breneman and Ben Kline, it's a jumping-off point Franklin said he can't wait to see upon its return to organized team activities in Au- gust's preseason camp. "I just told our players, this has to be a players-driven program now until we start camp. They need to take owner- ship of the program," he said. "We will be as good as they decide to be in the off-season with their preparation and work." SCORING SUMMARY 1ST 11:41 BLUE Lynch, Akeel 22-yard run (Julius, Joey kick) 9 plays, 65 yards, TOP 3:19................................................................... 7-0 2ND 13:30 BLUE Gulla, Chris 25-yard field goal 17 plays, 82 yards, TOP 8:30.............................................................. 10-0 3RD 6:45 WHITE Scott, Nick 51-yard run (Davis, Tyler kick) 3 plays, 54 yards, TOP 2:07................................................................. 10-7 4TH 10:35 BLUE Blacknall, S. 2-yard pass from Hackenberg, C. (Julius, Joey kick) 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 8:55..................................................................17-7

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