What Penn State Said After the Blue-White Game

The Nittany Lions assess spring practice and look ahead to the 2025 season.

Penn State wide receiver Lyrick Samuel celebrates a touchdown with Tyseer Denmark (4) during the Blue-White Game at Beaver Stadium. | Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Penn State football team returned to Beaver Stadium on Saturday for the first time since beating SMU in the College Football Playoffs last December. The building has changed a lot since then, and so have the Nittany Lions.

Penn State closed spring practice with its annual Blue-White Game, a modified scrimmage in which many Nittany Lions played in Beaver Stadium for the first time. Penn State coach James Franklin called that valuable and something the team will need to revisit before the Aug. 30 opener against Nevada.

Penn State introduced some new players at the Blue-White Game, which the team sought to use as a springboard into summer workouts. After the game, Franklin and the players discussed spring practice and the next few months. Here's a glimpse at what they said.

Penn State coach James Franklin

On the wide receivers: I was pleased with what we did this spring in the passing game. I was also pleased with the wide receivers, not only the ones that have been on our roster, and theird evelopment. You saw Tyseer [Denmark] make some plays today which was great, too. Then, obviously, you got your first look at [Kyron] Hudson and [Devonte] Ross, both of which have very bright futures. We’re trying to create as much competition at every position as we possibly can, that is the nature of this level of college football. We embrace it as coaches and the players embrace it as well. 

On the team's leadership: It has been good because a lot of the guys that have been significant
leaders are back. [Center] Nick Dawkins is as good leader by example as any that I’ve been around in my 30 years. When your starting quarterback is back and has started for three years, Drew is taking significant steps there. On the defensive side, [tackle] Zane Durant has been that type of leader for us for a while. [Safety] Zakee Wheatley is stepping into that role as well, so is [end] Dani Dennis-Sutton. [Linebacker] ominic DeLuca has been a captain for like seven years now, so we did lose some significant leadership, but we have a lot of guys that have been a part of that role as well.

On the No. 2 quarterback competition: Things are going phenomenally. They’ve got strong arms, and Jaxon missed the whole year, so we didn’t have a whole lot to compare and contrast. Jaxon [Smolik] had a great spring so it will be a battle for the back-up quarterback spot. It’s going to be important that we get these guys reps in practice and in game as well. Whoever wins the backup quarterback job we’re going to have to get them real reps, whether that be packages that we have set up for them or entire series.

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Quarterback Drew Allar

On spring practice: I'm very happy with the progress I made this spring, both individually and as a collective unit on offense. 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, this cycle of spring ball, with installing and making tweaks and changes to some plays and just trying out and experimenting with new stuff.

On the wide receivers: The receivers have taken a huge step forward for us this spring. I think you know that room has taken a lot of improvements. We have a lot of old guys in that room now, and they've taken the next step in their progressions. And you saw today, we have a lot of exciting youth in that room, so that room has really taken a step forward, and it's going to be a huge summer for them.

On what's next: For me personally, connecting with tight ends, receivers and running backs and really deep diving into routes and that sort of thing. I think we did a really good job of that throughout the
spring cycle, meeting together, but now that we have all this time and not really preparing for practices right away, it would be nice to just sit back and watch film and just talk through different things.

Wide receiver Liam Clifford

On the transfer receivers' impact: Obviously having more guys come in that have played a lot of football, there’s always competition. Allowing the younger guys to compete for their spots and then the older guys that have played a lot of football as well continue to compete, which ultimately makes the whole room better. So it's important. It's something that we talk about all the time in our room: Coach [Marques] Hagans is going to bring in guys, whether they're young or old, that are going to
make the room better. That's exactly what has been happening in the last couple of years, which has been cool.

Linebacker Dom DeLuca

On new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles: I love how he's big on accountability, he doesn't take any excuses. He’s striving for perfection to achieve excellence, and I love that about him.