Penn State fans will have to refrain from getting too excited about the young quarterbacks displayed at Saturday afternoon's Blue-White game.

Though some of them were nearly flawless late in the game, once it was over the coaches made things very clear -- this is Anthony Morelli's team. Quarterback controversy? Forget that.

"Anthony's our guy right now," Penn State quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno said after the Blue-White game. "Anthony's our quarterback; he's the guy that's going to take us where we want to go. The other guys just have to continue to get better."

Some of the backups, however, played particularly well during White's 30-6 win in Beaver Stadium.

Rising junior Paul Cianciolo of the White team was 8 of 9 for 126 yards and two touchdowns. Rising junior Daryll Clark, who played for both the Blue and White teams, was 6 of 10 for 135 yards and a touchdown. Redshirt freshman Pat Devlin, who also played for both teams, was impressive at times.

The guy who may take the Nittany Lions where they want to go was somewhat pedestrian. Morelli threw for 104 yards, was 11-of-18 passing and had no touchdowns and an interception.

"It's the spring game," Jay Paterno said. "I threw a touchdown in the spring game, that tells you all you need to know."

The interception was Morelli's biggest mistake of the afternoon. He reared back and sailed a high-lofting ball toward rising junior wide receiver Derrick Williams. Williams was in the middle of a triangle of White defenders, and rising junior safety Mark Rubin picked off the pass.

Morelli only played a half and was often forced into short, quick throws because the second-string line was protecting him. When he got time, he threw his nicest ball of the afternoon, a 25-yard strike to rising junior Jordan Norwood.

"It's not a big deal what I did today. It doesn't mean really too much at all," Morelli said.

"This is a learning-type experience for the younger kids, [to] come out and play in front of a crowd. You gotta show them how hard you're working," he said. "You don't win a national championship in a Blue-White scrimmage. It's all fun, you know. We come out and have a lot of fun, that's all."

During the spring, Jay Paterno said Morelli's completion percentage was about 65 percent during 11-on-11 spring scrimmages, up from 54 percent last regular season.

Morelli ended the 2006 season on a high after an Outback Bowl victory in which he went 14 of 25 and threw for 197 yards and one touchdown.

"My confidence is as high as it can be right now," Morelli said Saturday. "We had a really good season last year in my mind, especially at the end of the year and we can only get better going into this season."

Throughout the spring, players and coaches have lauded Morelli for his heightened role as a leader.

"Not the ability, but the mental game," Williams said. "He's matured a lot, he's making big plays, he's leading the team."

Clark and Cianciolo made many of the big plays on Saturday, though. Clark, who played in seven games and threw for 116 yards last season, started for the White team. He had a hand in the game's highlight play, a 74-yard touchdown pass to rising sophomore receiver Chris Bell.

Cianciolo only played in two games last season, including the Michigan game when Morelli and Clark left with injuries. He completed 4-of-8 passes on the season.

"He's a very confident kid. You're never going to tell him anybody's better than he is," Jay Paterno said of Cianciolo. "And that's good. That's the kinda thing you want. I'm really happy with the way he played I'm very confident with the guys we have. I'm very confident we can win with anyone of them."