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Penn State Blue-White Game

Saturday at 2 p.m., Beaver Stadium, State College TV/Radio: Big Ten Network (tape delay at 8 p.m.); WNTP-AM (990), WNPV-AM (1440).

Quarterbacks Paul Jones, Matt McGloin and Rob Bolden will try to make their case for the starting job. (Gene J. Puskar/AP)
Quarterbacks Paul Jones, Matt McGloin and Rob Bolden will try to make their case for the starting job. (Gene J. Puskar/AP)Read more
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Saturday at 2 p.m., Beaver Stadium, State College

 TV/Radio: Big Ten Network (tape delay at 8 p.m.); WNTP-AM (990), WNPV-AM (1440).

Coach: Bill O'Brien will make his debut as head coach on the Penn State sideline.

Scoring: The offense will receive points for touchdowns, field goals, extra points, plays of 15 yards and longer (two points), and two consecutive first downs (two points). The defense will gain seven points for a touchdown, six for a turnover that doesn't result in a touchdown, four for a sack, two for a tackle for loss, and one for a three-and-out.

Things to watch

At quarterback, O'Brien said, there hadn't been any separation among the three candidates to start - Matt McGloin, Rob Bolden, and Paul Jones - and he wanted to get each as close to the same number of plays as possible. Who will get the most?

A new playbook developed by O'Brien is based on the offense he used as offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots. It will be interesting to see how much of that offense he reveals.

The offensive line, which will have four new starters, has been a pleasant surprise in training camp. This will be an opportunity to see how the new first team jells, and how many backups receive significant playing time.

The secondary needs to replace all four of its starters from last year's team, but the unit does not have the depth O'Brien would like. Watch for former West Catholic star Curtis Drake in his first game at his new position, cornerback.

O'Brien talked about an emphasis on special teams, so this will be a chance to see who will return punts and kickoffs, and whether Anthony Fera - who handled field goals, punts, and kickoffs last season - will do all three jobs again.

Pete Massaro, the former Marple Newtown High star, returns after sitting out the 2011 season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. He and Sean Stanley have looked good at defensive end.

After 12 years with Tom Bradley as the defensive coordinator, the Nittany Lions will operate a defense installed by new coordinator Ted Roof. As with O'Brien's offense, however, few new wrinkles are expected to be on display.

- Joe Juliano
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