It was no secret -- the Blue team was supposed to pummel the White team. Sure, it was a scrimmage, but it was the first-stringers vs. the second-stringers, the starters vs. the scrubs.

But, for at least one moment, the second-team got the better of them.

Standing on the 2-yard line, the Blue team was poised to score the game's first touchdown. But three plays later, the starters hadn't moved an inch -- 242-pound fullback BranDon Snow was stopped three times by the likes of Chris Rogers and Jerome Hayes, who have a combined zero career tackles.

And on the final attempt to score midway through the first quarter, Anthony Morelli fumbled the ball while attempting to leap over the goal-line pile.

"It's so frustrating," center A.Q. Shipley said. "You work so hard to get the whole way down the field, you get to the 1-yard line, you want to be able to put it in. Three plays in a row, you get stuffed. I really don't know what happened."

Though a meaningless series in an overall meaningless scrimmage that head coach Joe Paterno called more of a show than practice, that goal-line stand proved the defensive line may not be quite as shallow as previously projected.

Watching from the sidelines, defensive tackle Jay Alford said he liked what he saw from those filling his stead.

"I was definitely impressed 'cause Snow's a big guy," he said. "I was definitely happy when they stopped him 'cause that was the younger guys."

With the departure of Tamba Hali, Matthew Rice and Scott Paxson, some of those younger guys may be called upon to help fill those holes in the defensive line. In all likelihood, Josh Gaines and Jim Shaw will start at the ends and Ed Johnson will line up next to Alford, but beyond that, not much is known about the Nittany Lions' depth.

Alford was held out because the coaches said they already knew what he was capable of and wanted to see what other players offered. Among those was Chris Baker, who only recorded one tackle, but earned the praise of Alford.

"He played exceptional today. During the spring, he was doing OK, but today he got in there and did great," Alford said. "He's strong as an ox, man. He's ridiculously strong, and I'm looking forward to seeing him play as well."

Baker and the White team didn't stop the offense just once, either. On the Blue team's first drive, Morelli marched his team down to the 4-yard line before the defense tackled Tony Hunt for a 6-yard loss on the final down.

Quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno said the team doesn't game-plan for short yardage plays in the Blue-White game

"You just call plays," he said. "I'll give credit 'cause those defensive linemen stepped up when they had to for short yards. I'm frustrated, too, but we'll get that straightened up."

Mike Lucian and Jed Hill each finished with a sack apiece for the White team. Both are rising sophomores and haven't seen much career playing time.

That's one of the reasons why linebacker Tim Shaw said he enjoyed watching the second-stringers succeed, especially during the goal-line stand. Watching mostly unheralded players end a scoring threat made a good series even better.

"You've got to push for the underdogs in that situation," Shaw said.