{"id":73363,"date":"2025-04-06T12:00:57","date_gmt":"2025-04-06T16:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=73363"},"modified":"2025-09-20T14:32:56","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T18:32:56","slug":"penn-state-spring-game-changes-and-storylines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2025\/04\/06\/penn-state-spring-game-changes-and-storylines\/","title":{"rendered":"Penn State Spring Game Changes and Storylines"},"content":{"rendered":"

Penn State is about to embark on a season with perhaps the highest expectations in the program\u2019s history.\u00a0 A time-honored Spring tradition, the annual Blue-White Game on April 26th,<\/sup> will have quite a different feel.\u00a0 Penn State Spring game changes and storylines abound.\u00a0 Head coach James Franklin is changing some aspects of the game.\u00a0 Additionally, the stadium will look very different.\u00a0 For fans looking to catch the game on TV, that won\u2019t happen.\u00a0 Compounding these dynamic changes, Franklin is also managing through key storylines on both sides of the ball.<\/p>\n

Penn State Spring Game Changes and Storylines<\/h2>\n

To Spring Game or Not to Spring Game?<\/h3>\n

While the Blue-White Game will look different this season, Penn State remains a program committed to still having a Spring game.\u00a0 When asked about the game, Franklin repeatedly said that he sees the importance of the scrimmage.\u00a0 From the connection with fans and alumni to the boost it gives local businesses in State College, it has become part of the fabric of the Nittany Lions football experience.\u00a0 As Franklin said during his pre-Spring practice press conference, \u201cA successful Penn State football program helps everybody out: the bars, the restaurants, the hotels. So for me at any point to sit here and say that we\u2019re not going to have a Spring game, I don\u2019t think that would make sense for a ton of reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other programs have gone away from Spring games.\u00a0 It is understandable because of the free agency dynamics that the transfer portal and NIL economics have brought to college football.\u00a0 These games allow other programs to scout players and get extra film on them.\u00a0 Franklin is making changes to the way the game will be run, in an effort to alleviate some of those concerns.<\/p>\n

The Blue-White Game will not be on TV this year.\u00a0 That gets rid of some of the risk of Penn State players ending up on film for other programs to evaluate for the Spring transfer window.\u00a0 However, fans are going to be allowed in the stadium for the game.\u00a0 So, there could be recordings taken, but those will obviously not be of the same quality as a TV production.\u00a0 For fans not able to attend in person, there is still the potential to listen on the radio.\u00a0 However, this is still to be determined.<\/p>\n

Storyline on Offense: Timing is Everything<\/h3>\n

Timing between the quarterback and receivers comes with repetition.\u00a0 Quarterback Drew Allar<\/a> is not expected to take that many snaps in the Spring, given his familiarity with coordinator Andy Kotelnicki\u2019s offense.\u00a0 However, Penn State is onboarding two new receivers<\/a> that are expected to play vital roles in the offense.<\/p>\n

Devonte Ross<\/a>, who came to Happy Valley from Troy via the transfer portal, should contribute as a long-ball threat in the passing games.\u00a0 Additionally, Kyron Hudson<\/a> is new to the program coming from USC.\u00a0 They will both be relied upon to replace the production of tight-end Tyler Warren.\u00a0 It will be important to get Allar and his new receivers on the same page.<\/p>\n

In addition to the receivers, running backs Nick Singleton<\/a> and Kaytron Allen<\/a> contributed to the passing game last season.\u00a0 However, that was more out of necessity given the lack of receiver production.\u00a0 At tight end<\/a>, sophomore Luke Reynolds<\/a> continues to develop and is expected to evolve into a strong starting Big Ten tight end.\u00a0 He will work in tandem with redshirt senior Khalil Dinkins<\/a> as the position group tries to uphold Penn State\u2019s new tradition of Tight End U<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Storyline on Defense: Fitting the Knowles Mold<\/h3>\n

Penn State’s most impactful acquisition<\/a> this offseason could have been off the field.\u00a0 Franklin hired Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles for the same position.\u00a0 Knowles brings a championship pedigree to the position.\u00a0 He is also the third defensive coordinator in three years for Penn State, following Manny Diaz and Tom Allen.<\/p>\n

It will be very important for Knowles to implement his offense very quickly.\u00a0 In addition to the new coordinator, Penn State will be dealing with changes at each level of the defense.\u00a0 On the line, it will be difficult to replace the talent and production of Abdul Carter.\u00a0 A key component to this year\u2019s team, Dani Dennis-Sutton<\/a>, is already dealing with an injury.\u00a0 He is currently unavailable to practice.\u00a0 At linebacker, Kobe King is gone.\u00a0 It will be up to the likes of Dom DeLuca<\/a> and Tony Rojas<\/a> to carry the linebackers.<\/p>\n

Knowles runs a 4-2-5 defense, similar to the one that Allen looked to use last season.\u00a0 In that scheme, there are only two linebackers (compared to three normally), and five defensive backs (usually four).\u00a0 In the defensive backfield, KJ Winston and Jaylen Reed depart to follow their NFL dreams.\u00a0 Zakee Wheatley<\/a> and Zion Tracy<\/a> are the veteran holdovers and will be joined by transfer portal returnee King Mack<\/a>.\u00a0 This position group’s quick uptake of the defense will be a huge unlock for Knowles.<\/p>\n

Main Photo: Dan Rainville \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Penn State is about to embark on a season with perhaps the highest expectations in the program\u2019s history.\u00a0 A time-honored Spring tradition, the annual Blue-White Game on April 26th, will have quite a different feel.\u00a0 Penn State Spring game changes and storylines abound.\u00a0 Head coach James Franklin is changing some aspects of the game.\u00a0 Additionally, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5172,"featured_media":73373,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2,35610,2056],"tags":[34396,32817,837,7312,3406,33076,7311,395,309,35018,1073,8145],"class_list":["post-73363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bigten","category-featured","category-penn-state-nittany-lions","category-top-25","tag-abdul-carter","tag-andy-kotelnicki","tag-james-franklin","tag-jaylen-reed","tag-jim-knowles","tag-kevin-winston-jr","tag-kobe-king","tag-manny-diaz","tag-penn-state-nittany-lions","tag-tight-end-u","tag-tom-allen","tag-tyler-warren"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5172"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73363"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73374,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73363\/revisions\/73374"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}