Penn State Announces Date for Blue-White Weekend

Penn State finally has a date for the 2026 Blue-White Game — or whatever concept the program chooses to host. In a social media post Monday, Penn State said it will hold its annual Blue-White weekend April 25 at Beaver Stadium.

It's still unclear exactly what form the Blue-White Game will take, or even if the Nittany Lions will play an actual spring scrimmage. Penn State coach Matt Campbell recently that he and Athletic Director Pat Kraft still were sorting the details of what the game would look like.

"What I've always believed in [about] that 15th practice is, what does that look like?" Campbell said. "I do think it's critically important for us. Pat and I are deciding how we'll do the Blue-White Game and what that'll look like. We'll certainly do something."

Blue-White Weekend

→ April 25, 2026 🔵⚪️
(more details to follow)#WeAre | @Sheetz pic.twitter.com/shXu9744JR
— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) February 16, 2026

The Blue-White Game serves multiple purposes for Penn State football. As the final practice of spring drills, it gives young players a chance to play in front of a large crowd at Beaver Stadium, often for the first time. It also serves as a financial boost for the State College region, often bringing in more than 60,000 fans to town for the weekend.

Further, Campbell called this particular Blue-White weekend "critically important" for his program. He wants Penn State's collection of nearly 60 new players, 24 of whom transferred from Iowa State, to introduce themselves to Beaver Stadium before the season opener in September.

"I think it's really important for our kids to be in that stadium with our fans," Campbell said in early February at Beaver Stadium. "I don't want the first time that [quarterback] Rocco Becht throws a pass to be his first game in there with fans. I think it's really important for this team to be able to get out there."

Campbell spent the past two months rebuilding a Penn State football roster that lost more than 70 players to graduation, the NFL and the transfer portal. Campbell retained more than 50 players from Penn State's roster while adding 55. That includes 40 from the portal, headlined by Becht, a fourth-year starting quarterback.

Further, multiple players are recovering from injuries, and Campbell wants those who are available to get playing time in Beaver Stadium. Becht, for instance, had offseason surgery to repair a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder.

Quarterbacks coach Jake Waters said that Becht is ahead of schedule and will be throwing by the middle of spring drills.

"We've got a lot of guys coming off of injury, so what does that look like?" Campbell said. "How do we go practice? But I think for our fan base to see us on that field, and for us to be able to be out in that stadium with our fans before we play a game, I think is absolutely critically important."

Penn State Nittany Lions cheerleaders entertain the crowd outside Beaver Stadium before the 2025 Blue-White Game. | Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Campbell also said that he's a "huge believer" in spring drills, particularly since these will be his first at Penn State. The Blue-White Game will represent the 15th and final practice, so Campbell wants to generate as much value without subjecting players to further injury.

"What that'll look like probably will be based a lot on our health of where we're at at that point, and then making sure we do a great job of getting out there and getting great work in, no matter what it is," Campbell said. "We've got to make sure we get value out of that 15th practice."

Penn State opens the 2026 season on Sept. 5 against Marshall at Beaver Stadium.

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