Blue-White game preview: Not entirely unlike a football game

Five things to watch during Penn State’s annual Blue-White game at Beaver Stadium Saturday.

1. Actual football game-like product. Head coach James Franklin has promised something that will look and feel like a football game, as opposed to some Blue-Whites of the Franklin Era, which have been nore like practice sessions.

Part of the reason: There are now 120 players in the program, up about 15 from a year ago. There should be no problem having, say, enough linemen for two legitimate teams.

Further, Franklin said after practice last week he intended to divide the teams more-or-less equally.

“Just break it up to try to make it as competitive as possible,’’ he said. “So you have guys you feel like can play in Big Ten games on either side of the ball and on either sideline.’’

2. Coordinators coordinating. A major topic of the spring has been the working-in of three new coordinators, Andy Kotelnicki on offense, Tom Allen on defense and Justin Lustig on special teams. All three will get to show some things off (in a very, very limited, the-rest-of-the-Big Ten-is-watching way).

Of particular note is the offense Kotelnicki is bringing with him from Kansas, which has gotten industry-wide praise. Expect to see a simpler attack in terms of the size of the playbook, but with more “disguises,’’ i.e. shifts, motion and the like.

Will Kotelnicki “unlock,’’ QB Drew Allar? Turn loose RBs Nick Singleon and Kaytron Allen? Pump life into a flatlining wide receiver corps?

Don’t expect real answers Saturday, but start to search for clues.

3. Abdul on the edge. Penn State’s veteran returning starters aren’t likely to play much. An exception could be Abdul Carter, a junior who received all-Big Ten recognition the last two years at linebacker, who has moved to defensive end.

The move was prompted by Carter’s ideal size (6-3, 250) and explosiveness for DE, the fact that both last year’s starters at DE, Chop Robinson and Adissa Issac, have turned pro, and the fast development of the linebacker group, especially MLB Kobe King and sophomore Tony Rojas.

“It’s a different world (at DE),’’ Franklin said last week. “I would say the transition has come better and faster than I thought it would.’’

4. Guys to watch (and, probably, not watch): Don’t expect to see much, or any, of returning veterans like RBs Singleton and Allen, LB King, TE Tyler Warren, DE Dani Dennis-Sutton, DE Hakeen Beamon, S Jaylen Reed, etc.

Do expect to see Allar and his No.2, Beau Pribula, especially since the third QB, Jaxson Smolik, has what Franklin has confirmed to be a “significant,’’ injury and won’t be in uniform for a while.

Expect, also, to get a look at:

Transfers - WR Julian Fleming (from Ohio State), OT Nolan Rucci (Wisconsin), CB AJ Harris (Georgia), and CB Jalen Kimber (Florida). Fleming, Harris and Rucci, a Warwick High School grad, were five-star recruits.

Penn State is replacing its top three CBs and both starting OTs, and is looking for answers at WR.

True-freshman early enrollees - QB of the future Ethan Grunkemeyer could get some run in Smolik’s absence.

Frosh who could help help in the fall include RB Quinton Martin, Pennsylvania’s top recruit in the last cycle, with a long, willowy body-type that has fueled speculation he could play wide receiver, interior OL Cooper Cousins, and TE Luke Reynolds, the top-ranked TE in his high school class.

From the Lancaster-Lebanon League, in addition to Rucci and Williams, look for Anthony Ivey, a redshirt-sophomore WR from Manheim Township, and Joey Schlaffer, a redshirt-freshman TE from Exeter, to see action.

5. How to watch: The game will kickoff at 2 p.m. It will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network. Admission is free. Parking lots around Beaver Stadium open at 8 a.m. Stadium gates open at noon.