What to Expect From Penn State's Blue-White Spring Practice Event

Penn State concludes spring football drills this week, bringing its 15th practice to Beaver Stadium for the public to watch. The Blue-White practice event begins at 1 p.m. Saturday, and coach Matt Campbell said the Nittany Lions will scrimmage despite still missing some of their top players.

Campbell said that quarterback Rocco Becht will participate in 7-on-7 drills, giving fans their first look at the projected starter. What else to expect Saturday? Campbell discussed that and more Tuesday at his weekly post-practice media availability.

Penn State will scrimmage at Beaver Stadium

Penn State's Matt Campbell on what to expect at Saturday's Blue-White spring practice event at Beaver Stadium.
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— Mark Wogenrich (@MarkWogenrich) April 21, 2026

"We got into the stadium last weekend, which was huge. To be honest with you, you go in there and you see the construction, you get a lot of guys who have never been in that stadium before, and we were able to get a really great practice in. And a lot of that practice was some driving [scrimmaging] team situations, and I think you’re going to get a lot of rinse and repeat [Saturday].

One of the neat things for our kids this time around is, you’re going to get to experience what this fan base feels like and how special this place really is. Even last Saturday, there were a lot big eyes walking into that stadium and how powerful it feels to walk in there. The opportunity to do that with our fan base, you can’t waste a great practice. I think these are critical reps for our football team.

I see the first 20-25 minutes of what normal practice would look like: a team stretch, obviously get ourselves a little bit of individual [work], inside run, a little bit of 7-on-7. But then really, the bulk load of the rest of the day will be driving [scrimmaging]. We’ll get an opportunity to just continue to work on our football team and work on driving the football to different areas of the field. A lot like what you see at most spring games."

Matt Campbell evaluates Penn State's spring progress

Penn State Nittany Lions defensive end LaVar Arrington II runs a drill at football practice in State College. | Mark Wogenrich | Penn State On SI

"I think there’s been great growth in spring practice. The emphasis is on how: How we’re going to do what we’re going to do. [We're] putting in some baseline things on offense and defense so we can really evaluate our football team. Even when you walked off the field last Saturday, you got about 75 team reps in practice and the ability to really evaluate our kids. Where are we, who can do what, and I think the last three days will be that."

Campbell has been impressed with sophomore receiver Koby Howard

Penn State Nittany Lions wide receiver Koby Howard (3) runs with the ball during the 2025 Blue-White spring game. — Penn State Nittany Lions wide receiver Koby Howard (3) runs with the ball during the 2025 Blue-White spring game at Beaver Stadium. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

"Koby is a young, talented football player. I think you knew that last year based on watching practice a little bit before the bowl game and then watching a little bit of his game reps toward the end of the football season. Koby’s got great potential. His whole thing is consistency. But his potential, he made a couple big plays last Saturday which was awesome to see.

He works really hard at his craft, which is awesome. And I think just adding, as with any good young player, the consistency is showing up. And being able to do all the little things well. … We were really grateful to have him back, and he’s certainly a young guy that we’ve got great expectations for moving forward."

Why Campbell hired Kashif Moore as his receivers coach

Penn State's Matt Campbell was asked about the team's QB depth as spring drills near an end.

"Interesting right now, to say the least," Campbell began.

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— Mark Wogenrich (@MarkWogenrich) April 21, 2026

"Probably his ability to articulate the teaching of the wide receiver fundamentals and the detail it takes to play good wide receiver. That’s the biggest thing that you just don’t know. [It's] the ability to articulate, what are those key factors, what are those key separation points, the fundamental and detail that you have to do to be able to play wide receiver at a really high rate. When you’ve played it and you have the ability to articulate and teach it, and you watch that teaching progression with your own players, I think those things are really important. I thought he did a really good job of that."

Campbell details what's next after spring practice

Penn State Nittany Lions football coach Matt Campbell meets the media in the Lasch Football Building. | Mark Wogenrich | Penn State On SI

"The first part of it is doing a great job … individually going through every player with everybody in our program — our strength and conditioning team, our nutrition team our athletic training team —
and get a synopsis of where are these players right now. What’s their strengths, where are their weaknesses, and are there gaps in the next 12 weeks that we can do a great job of filling in?

That process will start Wednesday and work through next week. And then we’ll sit down, myself and each position coach, with every player Tuesday and Wednesday and literally be aligned going through, here’s what the next 12 weeks have to look like for you.

I think after that’s done, then you’re talking about going to watch the film to have a great understanding of what we’ve seen, and then it's players, formations, plays. How do we make sure we build our offense and defense around what we know we have right now and maybe what we project we can be by the time we get to the end of fall camp? That’s the thing we all look forward to in coaching."

Check out Campbell's entire media session courtesy of Blue-White Illustrated.

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