Blue team beats out the white team 17-7 in annual spring game

posted April 20, 2015 in CommRadio, Sports by Jack Milewski

For the second year in a row, Penn State’s blue squad came out on top in the annual Blue/White game at Beaver Stadium.

The blue team was victorious 17-7 as they boasted roughly three fourths of Penn States likely regular season starters.

Christian Hackenberg, surprisingly, played the whole game due to the fact that Tommy McSorley did not suit up for the blue team. Hackenberg was 17-29 for 180 yards. He threw one interception and one touchdown in four quarters of play.

“Grading our quarterbacks and grading our running backs is hard at this point because we still need to get our offensive to be more cohesive and aggressive, but I felt that Christian played well for us,” said Penn State coach James Franklin.

There are plenty of position battles that fans were eager to see going into the game. One of them was the battle for defensive end due to the loss of standout seniors C.J. Olaniyan and Deion Barnes.

“Guys like Garret Sickles, Torrence Brown and Carl Nassib all got plenty of reps at the defensive end position and those guys are going to be instrumental for us this season,” Franklin said.

Brown had a sack and Nassib had a tackle for loss, while Sickles, who has arguably been the best end during spring practice, also contributed with a tackle.

Another key position coming into the season for the Nittany Lions was the wide receiver position, but for different reasons than other positions. While the team is looking for replacements at the defensive end and linebacker positions, they have a plethora of talent at the wide receiver position.

DaeSean Hamilton, Geno Lewis, Chris Godwin and Saeed Blacknall are all returning for the Nittany Lions, while standout recruits Juwan Johnson and Irving Charles will likely be able to make an immediate impact on the team.

The speculation was that Blacknall would be the odd man looking in like he was last year, but he was the leading receiver in the game yesterday as he collected six catches for 71 yards and a touchdown.

The game started off good for the Blue team as they were able to gain big chunks in both of their first couple drives. Akeel Lynch broke off a 22-yard run for the first score of the game. He rushed for 50 yards and that score.

The only other scoring in the first half came on a chip shot from Chris Gulla, giving the Blue team a 10-0 lead at half.

Arguably the best play of the game came on the White team’s only score as Nick Scott escaped from an Anthony Zettel in the backfield and then broke free for a 51-yard score.

In the fourth quarter Blacknall answered with a two-yard catch to move the score to 17-7 which proved to be the final.

The attendance for the Blue White game was 68,000, about 4,000 less than last season, but still a great crowd nonetheless.

“We had great attendance from our fans and I am very very appreciative to them and everyone at Penn State for their support,” Franklin said.

“I thought overall today we got out of it what we wanted. We stayed healthy which is the most important thing. We mixed our run and pass well and we got to see a bunch of guys make plays. Overall we had a really effective spring and I’m happy about that.”

As Franklin mentioned, Penn State still has holes to address, but the success of many players during the spring game and the confidence that the coaching staff possess in the lineup bodes well for the 2015 season for the Nittany Lions.

Photo Credit: (Abby Drey/Centre Daily Times via AP)

Jack Milewski is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him email jbm250@psu.edu