If Saturday's Blue-White game was any indication of what is to come this fall, the Penn State football team will be putting up some big numbers next season.

The white squad, mostly made up of the projected offensive starters, racked up a total of 349 yards and played with very few mistakes on its way to a 26-13 defeat of the blue team in front of roughly 40,000 rain-dampened fans.

The scoring got started at the 6:46 mark in the first quarter when redshirt junior quarterback Matt Senneca connected with senior tight end John Gilmore, who trotted into the end zone for a 19-yard score.

Senneca was impressive in his first public appearance as the No. 1 quarterback, going 12-17 for 192 yards and the one touchdown to Gilmore.

"I basically said to myself 'come out and be smarter mentally,' " Senneca said. "Reading coverages, recognizing things before the snap, I think I did that pretty well. I'm pretty happy with the spring, but we still have two more practices to try and get better on the field."

The Senneca-led white team made it 14-0 late in the first when Larry Johnson took a handoff and plowed past the goal line for a three-yard touchdown.

Johnson showed off hard running with 56 yards, in the absence of his backfield mate Eric McCoo, who, according to Penn State coach Joe Paterno, missed the game so he could focus on his schoolwork.

"A guy like Larry Johnson doesn't want to be taken out, so he always gives you that extra effort," said offensive tackle Gus Felder. "All our backs like to make something happen. If there is no hole, they are willing to make a hole."

The blue squad got on the board with 9:41 left in the first half. Redshirt freshman quarterback Zack Mills dropped a pass over the heads of the defense to a wide-open Ryan Scott, who raced up the far sideline for a 34-yard touchdown. Reserve kicker Mike Savage missed the extra point, which left the score at 14-6 in favor of the white.

Mills made a strong case for the backup quarterback spot with 97 yards passing and one touchdown. After a quick three-and-out on his first series, Mills showed good mobility that helped him to keep some plays alive.

"It was shocking to go from 5,000 people last year, to playing in front of 55,000," Mills said. "But after the first couple of plays, the nerves get out of you and you're playing on instincts."

The boys in blue tagged on another touchdown just before halftime when sophomore fullback Paul Jefferson broke the plane of the goal line, bringing the score to 14-13 in favor of the white.

The second half didn't see the same pace as the first half, as the defenses began to stiffen up and the offensive play got a little sloppy.

The white added two touchdowns in the second stanza to win the contest.

The first was a one-yard run by fullback Mick Blosser in the third quarter. Paterno said in his pre-game press conference that, as of now, Blosser has the upper hand for the starting fullback position come fall.

The final touchdown was set up by the lone interception of the game by defensive end Sam Ruhe on Mills. Three plays later, redshirt freshman Pete Gilmore raced through the defense for an 11-yard touchdown as time expired.

The potent offensive attack by both teams in the game was due in part to the stellar play of both offensive lines.

Last season the offensive line was plagued by injuries which forced Paterno to put a different unit out on the field almost every game. This resulted in an unusual number of penalties for a Penn State offensive line. This also caused the running game to suffer against quality opponents, like its 64 yards against Pittsburgh and 98 yards versus Minnesota.

On Saturday the offensive lines opened up large holes for the Lion running backs to get through, which resulted in a total of 276 yards and only two penalties.

"Basically we just got tired of everyone placing the blame on the offensive line." Felder said. "Hopefully everything we put together this spring and this winter will continue through to this summer and will carry into the season coming up."

Four months from now Lions fans will see if this game was a prophecy or just a tease.