Handful take advantage of opportunity at Blue-White game

In the past, the Blue-White game featured out-of-nowhere standouts — think Cole Chiappialle’s two-touchdown performance in 2014.

This year’s edition wasn’t quite as enthralling.

The Blue squad, consisting of Penn State’s first- and second-teamers, defeated the White team 26-0 on Saturday afternoon at Beaver Stadium, in front of an estimated crowd of 71,000.

While no one went off necessarily — outside of one particular backup quarterback — there were a few players that took advantage of the opportunity.

Blue-White MVP: Tommy Stevens, quarterback

James Franklin talked up Trace McSorley’s backup on Wednesday, and Stevens backed it up. Stevens, a redshirt sophomore, connected with DeAndre Thompkins on a pretty 50-yard heave on his second series and capped the drive with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Andre Robinson. Stevens finished with an impressive line: 216 yards and three touchdowns on 17 of 24 passing.

Top play: Ayron Monroe’s interception

Outside of Stevens and Thompkins’ pitch-and-catch, Monroe’s pick was a highlight he’ll fondly look back on. The redshirt sophomore safety, who’s competing for a starting job, dropped an interception chance earlier in the first half. He dutifully made up for it, though, picking off McSorley in the second quarter and returning it 65 yards to the Blue team’s 35. The return was called back on a flag, but it was dramatic nonetheless.

Unsung hero: Shareef Miller, defensive end

Miller is a favorite to take over one of the starting spots left by Evan Schwan and Garrett Sickels, and he performed well. Miller, a redshirt sophomore, had three tackles for loss, two of which were sacks. A solid showing by the budding pass-rusher.

Stat of the game: 432-13

The Blue team’s offense has the first- and second-teamers, so it makes sense they’d dominate. But, boy oh boy, it wasn’t even close. The Blue team put up 432 yards, while the White squad managed only 13.

Injury report

Plenty of players were held out to prevent injuries — but some were a bit banged up from the get-go and did not play. Running back Miles Sanders was seen signing autographs in a sling prior to the game, cornerback John Reid was wearing a black immobilizer on his left leg, defensive tackle Tyrell Chavis was lying on the trainer’s table with his right leg in a cast, and the Reading Eagle’s Rich Scarcella reported that offensive lineman Michal Menet was hampered by a non-serious injury.

This story was originally published April 22, 2017 at 5:19 PM with the headline "Handful take advantage of opportunity at Blue-White game."