Penn State spring open practice highlights
Penn State opened up spring practice on Tuesday, and Blue White Illustrated was there to take in the action. We’re giving you a peek inside open availability with our open practice highlights. If you haven’t yet, subscribe to Blue White Illustrated on YouTube.
Penn State’s offense was a bit rusty out of the gate on Tuesday, with several observable gaffes to start practice. The running back drill closest to the media took a hot second to get set up before things could get underway. While everyone had a good time ribbing each other, it wasn’t the last mistake.
After Nick Singleton went through first with a relatively clean run, the other running backs did the drill incorrectly, including Kaytron Allen. Don’t worry though; they got it right on the second run-through.
Offense gets off to rusty start
Meanwhile, the quarterbacks got right to it in passing concepts. One of the most entertaining figures to watch coach is offensive coordinator Mike Yurich. He plays a read defender for the quarterbacks, who must throw the right route based on his movements after the snap. For example, after throwing the ball to the post route incorrectly, second-year quarterback Beau Pribula received feedback on where he should go with the ball.
Drew Allar also missed low on a pass to newcomer Malik McClain before rebounding with a perfect deep ball.
Focusing on Penn State safeties
On the other side of the practice field, the defense worked through turnover drills. We’ll focus today on the safety room. It’s an impressive group with great depth and competition throughout the lineup. Head coach James Franklin talks about stacking the depth chart so that the second and third players push each other through drills and practice.
If we had to guess, putting Zakee Wheatley and KJ Winston together in the lineup aims to get the best out of each young safety. They don’t play the same position but can push each other through drills.
Finally, we’ll check in on the defensive line. Penn State ran through pursuit drills on Tuesday, so we saw the defensive line moving. As expected, the group looks athletic and runs well in open space. With his big neckroll, Zane Durant looks the part at defensive tackle. The team is still searching for a player to step up on the interior, so we’ll monitor how this group looks throughout spring practice.
That’s your look inside Penn State’s open practice from Blue White Illustrated.
Check out our insider notes from Sean Fitz and Nate Bauer about what they saw on Tuesday.
- Bauer: Penn State offense perspective
- Fitz: Notes and observations from the defensive side of Penn State’s opening spring practice
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