There’s hardly an option for James Franklin to cancel Penn State’s spring game, as numerous coaches across the country have done this offseason. Fatigue from historically lengthy 2024-25 seasons and the concern of transfer portal poachers have ultimately led to cancellations nationally. But the Nittany Lions will simply modify the Blue-White Game, which is scheduled for 2 p.m. on April 26.
“For me to, at any point, sit here and say, ‘Hey, we’re not going to have a spring game,’ I don’t think that would make sense for a ton of reasons,” Franklin said on Tuesday. “The university schedules a ton of fundraising events around the spring game. A lot of people are in town, like a homecoming for the spring.”
So, what will this year’s spring game look like?
NOT TELEVISED
The greatest modification to the scrimmage will actually be an external factor. This year’s Blue-White Game will not be televised. So, if fans want to watch the game, they’ll have to come to Beaver Stadium. This is likely a change used to guard Penn State’s players from other programs looking to cash in via the transfer portal.
“The game will not be televised for some of the reasons we’ve already discussed and you’ve heard other coaches maybe talk about,” Franklin said. “And we will have a spring game, probably more similar to what we’ve had in the past, at least right now. As we go through these 15 days, that could change.”
NO HALFTIME, SHORTER QUARTERS
As for internal changes, Franklin would like to shorten and condense the scrimmage. Penn State will likely eliminate halftime and shorten the quarters all while maintaining an on-field produc that will appeal to fans, media and coaches who need the experience, like new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles.
“One of the things that I don’t think we’ll do is a halftime, because there’s been years where we’ll have 75,000 people out there and we go to halftime for 20 minutes and the parking lot becomes more attractive than the second half — the tailgating,” Franklin said. “So probably we will condense it down a little bit, maybe a little bit shorter quarters, maybe no halftime.”
MODIFIED REPS
In an effort to keep established contributors healthy and keep them from the eye of potentially interested opposing teams, Franklin will also modify reps. This is something he’s done in spring games over the past three years. So, it’s more likely less-experienced players see the field over household names such as Drew Allar and Nick Singleton.
“We got so many players that decided to come back, there’s gonna be a lot of players that we’re going to modify from live reps, so that will impact it as well.” Franklin said. “But I want it to be enough that you guys feel like it was worth it, and our fans feel like ‘I got a pretty good feel and idea of what Penn State football is going to look like.’”
