Penn State Football: What We Learned From the Blue-White Game

The highs and lows of Penn State's Blue-White scrimmage at Beaver Stadium.

Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Jaxon Smolik (14) looks to throw a pass during the Blue-White spring game at Beaver Stadium. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

STATE COLLEGE | After the Blue-White Game on Saturday, Penn State football coach James Franklin made a pit stop for the "Hype Cam" in the Beaver Stadium tunnel. Franklin delivered an animated pitch, as many of his players did, for a social media video plugging the Nittany Lions' season-opener Aug. 30 against Nevada.

And then Franklin went to the locker room, where he told the Nittany Lions that their potential championship season runs squarely through a summer of self-determination.

"I like where we're at, but we got a ton of work to do between now and Nevada," Franklin told the team after the Blue-White Game. "And on top of that, we've got to be intentional about our work. Every every single one of us has got to be intentional about our work."

Penn State concluded spring drills with a Blue-White Game that Franklin called a strong cap to a productive spring. The Nittany Lions aren't replenishing at this point; they're deep into win-now mode, and spring practice reflected that.

So what did we learn from the Blue-White Game? There wasn't a ton of appreciable information, but some grace notes emerged. Here's the view from a spring Saturday in Beaver Stadium.

Some stars rested, others played quite a bit

Penn State sat a number of key players this spring because of injuries or "surgeries," as Franklin said, that followed the team's run to the College Football Playoff semifinals. Most notable were the defensive players who did not play Saturday: linemen Dani Dennis-Sutton, Zane Durant and Alonzo Ford Jr., linebackers Tony Rojas and DaKaari Nelson, cornerbacks A.J. Harris and Zion Tracy and safety King Mack.

Offensively, tackles Anthony Donkoh and Nolan Rucci sat out, as did tight ends Luke Reynolds and Andrew Rappleyea. Franklin said, however, that Penn State emerged from spring practice largely healthy. The absences all were either precautionary or nods to starters' experience.

However, quarterback Drew Allar played through a good portion of the scrimmage, even into one live tackling session (all quarterbacks were off-limits to contact). Running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen ran some two-back sets, and the new receivers, Devonte Ross and Kyron Hudson, got long looks with Allar.

"Overall, I'm very happy with the progress I made this spring, both individually and as a collective unit on offense," Allar said. "I've been talking to the coaches the last couple of days, and other players, and it's going to be really good film for us to really dive deep into the summer, because we did a lot this cycle of spring ball."

What stood out during the Blue-White Game?

Allar is still finding a rhythm with his new receivers. Hudson and Ross made some solid catches (Ross high-pointed a ball across the middle), but their body language occasionally suggested that they're still processing everything. Which is understandable. The trio has time to sharpen their connection, but their newness together was noticeable.

Receiver Liam Clifford brought his larger leadership role to the field, getting some significant touches in interesting ways. Clifford ran the jet sweep twice on direct snaps from Allen, something the running back did occasionally last season. It was a fun look for Penn State to show, particularly after getting a transfer portal commitment from former Syracuse receiver Trebor Pena before kickoff. That seemed like a play tailor-made for Pena.

Running back Quinton Martin Jr. was the liveliest back beyond Singleton and Allen. Franklin has said he plans to play three running backs next season; Martin appears to lead for that job. However, true freshman Tikey Hayes showed some spring in leaping over a defender on one play.

If the scrimmage was an indicator, quarterback Jaxon Smolik is squarely in contention for the backup quarterback job. Smolik brought trace elements of Trace McSorley to the offense, notably on some effective runs. He also made a strong throw, on the run, to redshirt freshman receiver Josiah Brown. Franklin reiterated Saturday that Smolik and Ethan Grunkemeyer will compete for the QB2 role into training camp.

Regarding that Brown catch, it might have been the day's best play from multiple angles. Smolik evaded pressure and made a nice throw. Brown got open for the catch, then took a huge, clean him from fellow freshman Daryus Dixson, a cornerback who looks like a playmaker. Brown lost his helmet but not the football. Dixson broke up a couple passes in a take-notice performance.

A few young defenders got the better of Allar durin the scrimmage. Redshirt freshman safety Vaboue Toure intercepted Allar's misthrow of Clifford during the early thud period. And Dixson broke up a well thrown ball for Ross.

Redshirt freshman linebacker Anthony Speca played a lot of snaps, partly because multiple linebackers were unavailable. He looked comfortable playing the role that Rojas likely will fill when he returns. However, the linebacker who drew the most attention was freshman LaVar Arrington II.

At 6-3, 212 pounds, Arrington is a big, rangy linebacker who showed speed and instinct. Arrington could work himself into the linebacker rotation, or at least earn a role on special teams.

"LaVar is an athletic freak," Speca said. "Tony [Rojas] is going to come back and reclaim his title, but right now LaVar is the most athletic kid in the room."

New defensive coordinator Jim Knowles has a reputation for being subdued on the practice field, but he opened up Saturday after a blown coverage led to a touchdown pass from Smolik to freshman receiver Lyrick Samuel.

Penn State sat several defensive ends, but it was notable that true freshman Yvan Kemajou started with the first-team defense during scrimmage work. Kemajou was a relatively late addition to Penn State's 2025 recruiting class, committing in July 2024, but has emerged as young player to watch. Good news for Penn State at the position: Zuriah Fisher, who missed last season with an injury, started opposite Kemajou.