Penn State football will unofficially kick off its 2011 season today at 2:00 P.M. inside Beaver Stadium when Blue will face White in the Nittany Lions' annual spring game. The forecast for the afternoon is nasty, calling for near-biblical rain during the game and a nice 22-mile-per-hour wind out of the southeast, so conditions will certainly be less than ideal.
A key story line to watch will be the quarterback battle between sophomore Robert Bolden and senior Matthew McGloin, both of whom saw significant time last season and are considered by Joe Paterno to be the front runners for the job this season. It might also be worth keeping an eye on some of the darkhorses for the starting job, including redshirt freshman Paul Jones and junior Kevin Newsome.
Also notable for this game is the significant number of injuries. In addition to tight end Garry Gilliam and defensive lineman Pete Massaro, both expected to miss all of 2011, and Curtis Drake, out with an injured leg and uncertain for 2011, 16 Lions are expected to miss the game with less significant injuries including wide receiver Derek Moye, cornerback D'Anton Lynn and linebacker Nathan Stupar.
Stay tuned to this stream for updates throughout the afternoon.