Penn State football will take part in its 15th and final practice of the spring period at 2 p.m. on Saturday in its annual Blue-White event. This year the traditional scrimmage will be back in its usual format after a few years of focusing mostly on practice situations rather than a full on scrimmage. The Nittany Lions will boast a good-on-good session before allowing more and more roster depth to take the field.
There is only so much you can take from a scrimmage like this between the straightforward schemes to the “don’t get hurt” approach to contact. Nevertheless there are still a few things you can keep an eye out for. Here are five of them.
How can Beau Pribula throw?: It seems unlikely that anyone but Drew Allar is going to be Penn State’s starting quarterback this season but talk of quarterback Beau Pribula being part of the Nittany Lions’ offense this season – in some capacity – an eyebrow raiser. Time will tell how much Pribula is actually part of the offense and how much is James Franklin trying to appease a quarterback in a transfer portal world, but if nothing else it’ll be interesting to see how Pribula looks throwing the ball. He has the legs to give Penn State some Trace McSorley elements, but the arms is really what matters here unless Penn State uses him as a battering ram like Tommy Stevens or Will Levis.
Is anyone catching these things?: Receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith or Kent State transfer – not yet on campus – Dante Cephas, stand to be the guy Penn State leans on this season but beyond that seeing is believing. In truth for all of Lambert-Smith’s flash and potential he has shown as many games when he slumps right out of the offense. If he can be consistent, he can be a great receiver. Beyond those two the door is wide open. Guys like Omari Evans look to breakout this season and plenty of others could have their chance but none have done it yet. Penn State doesn’t want to find itself in a 2018 situation where good passes were met by nearly as many drops. Drew Allar can be the best quarterback in America but it won’t matter if nobody is catching these things. Blue White isn’t meant to be the most complex looking game on either side of the ball, but a few guys showing out couldn’t hurt.
Interesting interior: Until Penn State doesn’t put a solid defensive line or solid defense on the field you have to assume that it will. In the meanwhile the Nittany Lions do have some questions on the interior of the defensive front. This shouldn’t be a huge cause for concern with so many potential names ready to take their chances at it, but after years of PJ Mustipher, Penn State will look to find new big guys inside. A spring scrimmage isn’t exactly the time for players to pin their ears back and play their hearts out, but just keep an eye on anyone who can get their hands on Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen between the tackles. Penn State finally has things figured out on the offensive front, first time in a while that the defensive line has to do the same.
Next up to kick: Penn State has had pretty fortunate luck (?) developing good punters and kickers over the last half decade following a period of time when specialists were struggling mightily coming out of the sanction era. While a lot of things about a spring scrimmage might only be taken with a grain of salt, punting, kicking and field goals is definitely an area you can gleam some actual insight from. Sander Sahaydak stands to be the guy, maybe in all areas kicking areas, while Alex Bacchetta should be handling punting duties unless big 6-foot-6 Gabriel Nwosu can reprise his occasional appearances. Penn State has four punters and two kickers, so plenty of guys should see the field on Saturday and showcase their skills. Kick returns are generally not part of spring games, so don’t exact any meaningful return game information there.
Program checkers: As mentioned above it can sometimes be hard to take too much stock in what happens during a spring game because nobody is trying to do anything overly fancy and nobody is putting their body on the line for an extra yard. That being said there have been names to watch at every Blue White game and then two or three guys that make everyone check their program and say “who is that?” The who is that guy doesn’t always end up being a big part of Penn State’s upcoming season, but every once in a while it’s a bit of foreshadowing. Freshman linebacker Tony Rojas has a chance to be that guy this year, but who else is going to make a name for themselves with a play or plays that make fans turn their head and go “who was that?”