If you were expecting to see great changes in Penn State in the spring game on Saturday afternoon, you probably had your hopes up a bit too much. The defense got the last laugh with a 17-13 victory over the offense after the action came down to one final play to determine the winning side.
[autotag]Sean Clifford[/autotag] played a little bit more than may have been expected but he showed good ability to make some plays, especially in the seven-on-seven drills sprinkled throughout the afternoon. But Clifford didn’t have much to prove. Instead, the backup options were the real show as [autotag]Christian Veilleux[/autotag] had a solid afternoon and freshman [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] had a few moments that reminded you he is just a freshman getting his first taste of college football. But after shaking off a few rusty moments early on, Allar provided a brief glimpse of what’s to come in his future.
The same could be said about the performance of freshman defensive lineman [autotag]Zane Durant[/autotag] and running back [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag], although neither had a monster performance that made you think Penn State will be a juggernaut right away this fall.
Instead, the star of the spring game may have been [autotag]Dominic DeLuca[/autotag], the redshirt freshman linebacker who notched a pair of interceptions and a sack. It may not be enough to throw him into the starting mix for the linebackers in the fall, but it was certainly enjoyable to watch as a player that was flying well under the radar for most.
Overall, spring game reactions can tend to be either wildly exaggerated or extremely reserved. The Penn State spring game will likely lead to more timid reactions moving forward for the majority of fans, and that’s perfectly acceptable. There were not any glaring problem areas for Penn State, and it would be unfair to be too critical of the running game in this setup even with much attention placed on it this entire offseason.
The game did offer some worthy highlights, including a nice catch in the end zone by Trey Harrison and solid play in seven-on-seven drills by Clifford and Veilleux.
Penn State’s spring practices have now come to a close, and all eyes are on what’s next for the program. Penn State still has a good amount of work to do later this summer, and the addition of some more key players to the roster will only help the cause.
Penn State’s 2022 season begins Thursday, Sept. 1 at Purdue.
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