It was something most unnatural.

The day was clear and sunny, Penn State coach Joe Paterno was reciting poetry in front of the media and many of the estimated 71,000 Nittany Lion fans in Beaver Stadium on Saturday wore maroon and orange instead of blue and white.

Manifestly, it was the Blue-White scrimmage, during which the White team pieced together a 30-6 win against the Blue team. But it was also a day of unity with a university community more than 350 miles away.

Many members of the largest Blue-White game crowd ever donned Virginia Tech colors -- including one block of fans that formed the "VT" logo -- and shared a moment of silence before the game in remembrance of the shootings last week on the Blacksburg, Va., campus.

In a pregame press conference, Paterno entered carrying a Virginia Tech cap given to him by the girlfriend and family of Jeremy Herbstritt, a Penn State graduate who was killed in the shootings. Later, Paterno read a poem about Civil War General Thomas (Stonewall) Jackson that he thought summarized the tragedy.

At the end of the game, quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno was asked to isolate something that stood out.

"What impressed me the most?" he asked. "The tribute they did before the game for Virginia Tech. I thought it was handled in an absolutely classy way ... I was crying. It really got me."

Despite the emotion preceding the game, he also conceded that some of the on the field action was promising.

The veterans did their share early in the scrimmage. Rising senior quarterback Anthony Morelli started for

the Blue team but only played for a half, finishing 11 of 18 for 104 yards and no touchdowns. Blue passed often with Morelli but mostly short flares and screens. His longest pass was a 25-yard dart to rising junior receiver Jordan Norwood, who made a gutsy catch in the seam. Morelli did throw one interception deep in White territory, lofting an errant toss into a triangle of defenders at the 4-yard line.

Norwood, who also broke off a 31-yard run in the first quarter, and rising junior receiver Derrick Williams each had five catches for 54 yards.

Rising junior safety Anthony Scirrotto, who was named first-team All-Big Ten last year, did not play because of a pinched nerve in his right shoulder, which was in a sling before the game.

Rising senior running back Austin Scott led the Blue team in rushing with 53 yards on 13 carries, but said Blue's offensive line, the second-team unit, "struggled a little bit" and couldn't crack big gaps.

"A guy like [Morelli] and a guy like Austin Scott, when they get in the spring game they feel like they've got to throw a touchdown pass every play and they've got to run for a touchdown every play cause it's the spring game," Jay Paterno said.

Clearly he knows Morelli all too well.

"I'm always competitive when I step on the field," Morelli said. "I want to do good, but they told me I'm not going to play much, so just go out there and, you know, wing it around a little bit ... Coaches want to see match-ups, that's what it's all about. It's an important day for the coaches to see what kids are going to do out there against different people."

Some of those "different people" may have included some of the younger players, who played many of the snaps during the scrimmage. In fact, the players of the game included the White team's rising junior quarterback Paul Cianciolo, who was eight of nine for 126 yards and two touchdowns, and rising sophomore wide receiver Chris Bell, who had four catches for 116 yards.

Bell and rising junior quarterback Daryll Clark connected for the play of the game late in the fourth quarter. Bell, who had been talked about all week leading up to the scrimmage, took a pass from Clark and burst 74 yards for the score.

But even that almost seemed like an afterthought next to the maroon and orange tribute paid before the opening drive.

"To me, it was unbelievable, because I never think that another school would hold hands out for another school like that," Bell said.