Blue White Illustrated

were three touchdown passes: a 9-yarder to Andre Robinson late in the third quar- ter, a 31-yard bullet to Brandon Polk in the fourth quarter and a 15-yarder to Juwan Johnson on the final play of the af- ternoon. Stevens, who will be a redshirt sopho- more this coming fall, played sparingly a year ago as Trace McSorley's backup, at- tempting only three passes in seven ap- pearances. But coach James Franklin said Stevens approached his role as if he could find himself on the field at any moment, and his diligence showed in the Blue- White Game. "In the game of football, you've got to be ready," Franklin said. "His approach has been awesome. He's really attacked things the right way. I'm really proud of him, and he has a chance to have a very, very bright future here. We want to keep developing him in every area." McSorley played the entire first half but wasn't able to connect on the kind of big plays that Penn State hit with regu- larity last season. He couldn't hit John- son on one of his first deep shots, and DeAndre Thompkins wasn't able to stay in bounds on another long ball later in the half. McSorley also was intercepted by Ayron Monroe late in the first half. The redshirt junior finished the game with 13 completions in 21 attempts for 114 yards. Not that his performance was likely indicative of anything that will take place this coming fall. As is often the case in the spring game, the Nittany Lions bore little resemblance to the team they will be in September. Atop the list of high-profile absentees was running back Saquon Barkley, who dressed for the game but sat out for the second year in a row. Tight end Mike Gesicki, safety Marcus Allen and line- backer Jason Cabinda were also held out, owing to the fact that they have little to prove at this point in their ca- reers. Backup running back Miles Sanders missed the game as well, as did receiver Saeed Blacknall, cornerback John Reid, defensive end Ryan Buch- holz and offensive linemen Michal Menet and Brendan Mahon. Those lat- ter absences are believed to be health- related. With Barkley and Sanders out, Mark Allen led all rushers with 63 yards on 10 carries. Backup tight end Jonathan Hol- land was the game's leading receiver with eight catches for 62 yards, while Johnson had seven catches for 81 and a touchdown and Thompkins five for 84 yards. Defensively, Cam Brown, Jarvis Miller and Jason Vranic, all playing for the White, finished with seven tackles apiece to tie for the game-high. The game was a success at the gate, with an estimated crowd of 71,000 in attendance. Franklin had been saying for months that he hoped Penn State fans would make a statement by turn- ing out in record numbers for the team's first public appearance since the end of its breakthrough 2016 season. The attendance figure wasn't a record, but it did provide a high-energy back- drop to the Lions' final spring practice session. Fans won't get another chance to see Penn State in action until Sept. 2 when it opens its 2017 season against Akron. Until then, Franklin said that while he doesn't think the Nittany Lions have reached their potential yet, they are headed in the right direction. "Overall, I thought spring practice went well," he said. "I thought we really accomplished our goals. We were able to develop some depth and get a bunch of reps for some guys who normally don't get a lot of reps. In the game today, I thought Tommy Stevens really contin- ued to do some good things. We're ex- cited about him and his development. I thought Cam Brown was all over the field. I don't know how many tackles he had, but it seemed like he made every single one. And Ayron Monroe continues to grow and continues to make plays and do really good things. I've been pleased with those guys and I'm pleased with our spring overall, but we still have a lot of work to do. "We did have a nice year last year. We're giving the rings out at our picnic with our players and our players' fami- lies, about 700 people, and then we're never going to talk about this Big Ten championship again. It's over. We en- joyed it, we appreciated it. It was awe- some, and a lot of hard work went into it. But once they get those rings and walk out of the building, we're fully on to 2017 and we're not discussing those things again." SCORING SUMMARY 1ST 2:36 Blue Davis, Tyler 43 yd field goal 10 plays, 39 yards, TOP 5:57....................................................... 0-3 2ND 0:00 Blue Davis, Tyler 24 yd field goal 6 plays, 44 yards, TOP 0:39....................................................... 0-6 3RD 0:36 Blue Robinson, Andre 9 yd pass from Stevens, Tommy (Davis, Tyler kick) 9 plays, 87 yards, TOP 4:20...................................................... 0-13 4TH 6:57 Blue Polk, Brandon 31 yd pass from Stevens, Tommy (Davis, Tyler kick) 7 plays, 65 yards, TOP 3:26......................................................0-20 0:04 Blue Johnson, Juwan 15 yd pass from Stevens, Tommy 16 plays, 80 yards, TOP 4:26................................................... 0-26 A P R I L 2 2 , 2 0 1 7 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 2

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