With a new format, Penn State football’s Blue-White game will be different than past years

Penn State football’s lack of offensive linemen has forced the team to pivot from the traditional format of the annual spring game.

This Saturday, instead of a Blue-White game with two full teams — usually one with starters and one with backups — it will likely be the offense facing the defense.

“Offense on one sideline, defense on the other sideline to help our o-line out,” head coach James Franklin said Wednesday. “And then also to get enough special teams situations in between.”

On top of that, there will be aspects that make the game seem more like what it actually is — the 15th spring practice — rather than an instrasquad scrimmage.

Franklin said there will be periods with the live tackling that usually happens in a Blue-White game, but there will also be times where that isn’t the case. Instead the team will go to “thud” tackling, where contact will suffice rather than bringing a player to the ground. The reasoning for that is the stage some players are at in their recoveries from injuries.

“We’ll get some live work,” he said. “But there’s some players that aren’t cleared for live but they are cleared for thud. So it allows us to get more guys reps. So it won’t be a traditional spring game like we’ve had in the past.”

The Blue-White game is free for all to attend and begins at 2 p.m. Saturday at Beaver Stadium, with gates A and B opening at 12:30 p.m.

This story was originally published April 21, 2022 at 8:43 AM.