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Clark, Devlin Compete at PSU Blue-White Game |
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Written by David DeIulis
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Sunday, 20 April 2008 |
Under a sun-drenched, blue and white sky at Beaver Stadium Saturday, 73,000 people watched Blue defeat White 27-14, and more importantly, Penn State accomplish its goal of escaping injury free from its annual spring scrimmage.
After a season-ending knee injury to All-American linebacker Sean Lee and the suspensions of several other key starters, 81-year-old coach Joe Paterno and the Nittany Lions had more questions than answers heading into the Blue-White game, but Saturday’s sunny sky did shed some light on several intriguing position battles heading into next season.
Redshirt sophomore running back Evan Royster, who rushed for 513 yards and 5 touchdowns last year, has been overshadowed this spring by Stephfon Green, a redshirt freshman from John F. Kennedy High School in the Bronx, N.Y.
On the third play from scrimmage, Green showed why by side-stepping All-Big Ten safety Anthony Scirrotto and scurrying down the left sideline for a 57-yard touchdown. Less than four minutes later, Royster answered with a four yard touchdown scamper of his own. Green finished with 87 yards on 12 carries and also caught 3 passes for 19 yards while Royster, the projected starter, gained 24 yards on three carries. Freshman Brandon Beachum was also impressive, rushing for 55 yards on seven carries.
Joe Paterno, entering his 43rd season as the coach of the Nittany Lions, said that regardless of who starts, a plethora of competent players is a desirable problem to have, especially during the attritional Big Ten season.
“I think we have some great wideouts, the potential to have some great tight ends, young tailbacks – we have the ability to be a very, very diverse offensive football team,” said Paterno.
“One problem you take is there’s only one football. There are a lot of guys that are going to handle the football. I think our job will be to make sure we get it to the right guy, at the right time, at the right place and in the right situation.
”The decision on who will do that has not been easy. Senior Darryl Clark, similar both athletically and physically to Michael Robinson, and redshirt sophomore Pat Devlin, a slightly more mobile Anthony Morelli, have battled throughout spring practice, and notwithstanding limited playing time, a downsized playbook and second string defenses, both were impressive in the spring scrimmage.
Clark, while displaying his characteristic lateral agility and contusing rushing style, completed 9 of 16 pass attempts for 106 yards, including a 33 yard touchdown pass to Derrick Williams. Devlin was more subtly agile, narrowly escaping rushers to complete 12 of 18 passes for 122 yards, including a 25 yard fling to Andrew Szczerba. Both quarterbacks were sacked three times.
Quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno, while acknowledging that the playbook would be accordingly stylized, refused to commit to either player following the game.
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Penn State 