The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: Reviewing Penn State football’s Blue-White game

Penn State wrapped up spring practice Saturday afternoon with the Blue-White game, with the White team — featuring many of the team’s projected starters — winning 27-0.

Let’s dive right in to the good, the bad and the ugly from the scrimmage and spring ball.

Good

Wide receivers stepping up: There was plenty of consternation last year about Penn State’s wide receivers, and that has continued into the offseason leading up to the 2024 season. The group made one veteran addition in wide receiver Julian Fleming and may now lose its leading option from 2023, with KeAndre Lambert-Smith likely heading to the transfer portal when it opens Tuesday, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. That means players will have to step up and there are reasons to believe they will.

Harrison Wallace III has struggled to stay healthy in his Penn State career but he’s done so this spring and it led to a quality performance, with five catches for 72 yards. Wallace has the talent to be a No. 1 receiver for the Nittany Lions even if he hasn’t so far, and he showed flashes of that once again in the team’s scrimmage.

Kaden Saunders could also have an opportunity in the slot, where Lambert-Smith was expected to start, and has primed himself to do that.

“I had my best spring of my college career,” Saunders said after the Blue-White game. “... I was making plays every practice, (and was) touchdown king.”

Regardless of who it is, any wide receiver progression this spring has to be a welcome sign for a Penn State offense that needs it.

Tom Allen’s defense: Penn State’s defense could look different this season with Tom Allen leading the unit after Manny Diaz left to be the head coach at Duke. The first signs of that were on display Saturday afternoon with the Nittany Lions playing their first snaps, and most of their snaps, in a 4-2-5 defense (four defensive linemen, two linebackers, five defensive backs), straying from the base 4-3 defense that the program has leaned on under James Franklin.

While the team has run nickel defense in the past with five defensive backs, this is also a slight change from those groups. Instead, this 4-2-5 is a big nickel, with the fifth defensive back being Jaylen Reed and playing more as a safety/linebacker hybrid rather than a true slot corner or a cornerback/safety hybrid. That will open things up for the defense because of Reed’s versatility, and more importantly it will allow the team to put more players on the field from its strongest position group — safety.

Zakee Wheatley: Speaking of safeties. Wheatley looks to be the primary beneficiary of Allen’s defense because it will get him more snaps. He, Reed and K.J. Winston form a trio of starting caliber safeties that couldn’t always see the field because there weren’t enough spots to get them out there frequently in Diaz’s defense. Under Allen, Wheatley should see an increase in reps, allowing him to build on the momentum he seems to build every offseason.

He’s been prolific in coverage and has a knack for tracking the ball in the air and creating turnovers for the Nittany Lions. His presence on the field will only help what will likely be an inexperienced cornerback group on the outside. He and the other safeties will likely be asked to help them out over the top enough that Wheatley could end up leading the Nittany Lions in interceptions, and should be one of the more productive safeties in the country from that standpoint.

Andy Kotelnicki’s offense: Yes, it was bland on Saturday, but there is plenty of reason for hope this offseason with the offense. For starters, seemingly every player has glowed about what the unit is planning to do and the creativity Kotelnicki plans to employ this season. Saunders was one of those players and made note that the team had barely shown anything during the Blue-White game.

Few examples prove that more than the team’s complete lack of motion on offense during the game. It would be stunning if motion was not a major part of the offense this season based on how often and how well Kotelnicki has used it in the past at Kansas and Buffalo. That, along with his use of wide zone in the running game, where he relies on his running backs to make a cut and get downfield once they see space — something both Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton should excel at — and his general creativity should give Penn State fans plenty of reason for excitement exiting spring ball.

A.J. Harris: Penn State has added two new corners this offseason to an already talented group. And while A.J. Harris and Jalen Kimber both should see plenty of time this season, it’s Harris who has impressed most and could be arguably the team’s top corner in his first year on campus. The former Georgia Bulldog had two tackles for loss and a pass breakup in the Blue-White game, but more than that took on the team’s top receivers often and frequently came out on top in those battles.

Harris has good size at 6-foot-1, 188 pounds and plays with a level of physicality that could disrupt even the best wide receivers. He has a chance to take off this season and quickly rise to the top of the depth chart in the coming months. If that ends up being the case, it would solve one of the few question marks on the defense and help the unit continue on its path to being one of the best in the country this season.

Bad

Talent balance in the Blue-White game: Penn State head coach James Franklin said the rosters would be divided to make the game as competitive as possible, and while that was the case at a few spots, it wasn’t in most of them. Most of the projected starters and contributors were on the White team, while a few notable newcomers — Jalen Kimber, Fleming and Harris — were on a Blue squad that mostly featured depth pieces.

That led to good, competitive reps on the outside at cornerback and wide receiver, but that wasn’t the case on the interior, where the White offensive line and defensive line had clear advantages.

Ugly

Chances of Penn State’s roster remaining the same after spring ball: This is the nature of the sport. Penn State is just as susceptible to it as any program around the country and will surely see players depart beginning Tuesday when the transfer portal opens. There’s already one expected exit with Lambert-Smith expected to enter, and he won’t be the only one. Cornerbacks coach Terry Smith spoke about recruiting their own locker room when he spoke Tuesday, and that’s going to be a major part of any program’s next week.

Franklin laid out the schedule for the team, with position coaches holding meetings with players before meeting with the head coach. That should provide clarity on where guys stand on the depth chart and what their future could hold at Penn State. And then each player will make the decision that every player in the country has available to them — whether they want to stay with their current program or move on to a new one.