Posted April 13, 2024 | Article by Amanda Vogt | Photo by Maddie Bader
Football is back in Happy Valley with a fall-esque feel. Wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour removed spring expectations from the Nittany Lion faithful who bundled up to watch the annual Blue-White game.
The culmination of offseason training and spring practices showcased Andy Kotelnicki, Tom Allen and Justin Lustig with a Penn State headset for the first time.
Several players including Kaytron Allen, Hakeem Beamon and Kevin Winston Jr. were not in action — during warmups, they were seen in street clothes.
13-minute running-clock quarters kept the action moving quickly. To test Penn State’s time management, the last two minutes of the second and fourth quarters were played normally.
The White Team knocked around the Blue Team en route to a 27-0 shutout victory.
Blue received the ball first with Beau Pribula as the first quarterback on the gridiron. The quarterbacks rotated between teams at James Franklin’s discretion and Ethan Grunkemeyer and Jack Lambert got their first snaps as a Nittany Lion in appearances on the Blue squad.
Growing pains are to be expected, especially with the starting center job up for grabs and Drew Allar’s first snap of the day was high and he fumbled. Cam Wallace did recover the ball, so possession wasn’t lost but the entirety of Beaver Stadium gasped at the sight.
Deeper passes weren’t connecting for any quarterback-wide receiver combination. The longest pass of the game was a 30-yard completion from Allar to Kaden Saunders in the final minute of the first half.
“The reality is we got to take this step and we got to do it on a consistent basis,” Franklin said. “All those guys are in the locker room for a reason.”
On one of Pribula’s opportunities to pick up a large gain for Blue, he threw an interception to Zakee Wheatley at the end of the opening quarter.
The defenses weren’t making it easy either. Both sides combined for six total sacks and three QB hurries.
With reports of KeAndre Lambert Smith entering the transfer portal, there wasn’t any wideout that separated himself from the rest of the pack other than Harrison Wallace with five receptions for 72 yards.
Franklin wouldn’t comment on the status of Lambert-Smith saying he would only be speaking about those who played in the spring game.
Allar thinks the receivers have improved and he’s seen “a totally different level of commitment” from them.
“I think just overall as an offense, we just need to be consistent on every position; it’s not just one position that’s the downfall of offense,” Allar said. “We all need to be consistent and doing our jobs and I’ll give the receivers their credit – they’ve done a phenomenal job this spring for sure.”
Allar finished 15-32 for 202 yards and Pribula 5-10 for 25 yards. Pre-snap penalties also hindered the offense at times because it created several third and longs throughout the afternoon.
“We’ve got to start better on offense if we’re able to get into a rhythm and get ahead of the sticks,” Franklin said.
Both teams relied heavily on their rushers. Wallace, Quinton Martin Jr. and London Montgomery all received valuable reps with Allen and Nicholas Singleton not making an appearance in the backfield.
“Both of them are really good running backs,” Pribula said. “Quinton’s slightly younger than Cam…but he is extremely mature; I’m excited for what the future holds for the rest of the younger guys.”
Martin Jr. rushed nine yards for the first points of the game at the beginning of the second quarter, putting White on the board first.
Before halftime, it had a chance to go up by two touchdowns but passes thrown to the corner of the endzone by Allar weren’t hauled in by either Harrison Wallace or Malik McClain.
Pribula’s mobility was on full display on Blue’s first possession of the second half. Because he couldn’t be tackled, plays were whistled dead instead. Regardless, the QB accounted for 27 yards of the 30-yard drive.
On White’s next possession, Allar connected with Khalil Dinkins for a gain of 20. Along the way to a 30-yard field goal off Ryan Barker’s foot, there were several other incompletions.
Grunkemeyer quickly gave possession back to White by throwing an interception to Amin Vanover at his own 28-yard line. Seven plays later, Martin Jr. found the endzone for a second time putting White up 20-0 with just over six minutes left in the game.
To ice the game, with Allar back at QB for White, Andrew Rappleyea caught a 30-yard pass running into the endzone for the only passing score of the game.
The next phase will be individual meetings between players and their position coaches before they meet one-on-one with Franklin ahead of training camp. In just 140 days the 2024 season will officially begin.
“I was pleased with how our spring laid a foundation to go into summer camp with really good competition,” Franklin said.
Amanda Vogt is a second year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, email amandaevogt@gmail.com
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