Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley had not looked at the game tape yet when he was asked about the performance of the Nittany Lions' defensive line, so he didn't want to pass any judgment on a single player.

But Bradley was able to definitively point out the obvious regarding the unit, which lost three starters from last season.

"We're going to have to rely on depth because of the inexperience," Bradley said.

Rising junior Josh Gaines is the only returning starter from last year's unit that included Jay Alford and Tim Shaw, who are likely to be selected during this weekend's NFL draft. Ed Johnson, the third starter lost, played in all 12 regular season games at defensive tackle.

To replace them, Bradley and defensive line coach Larry Johnson have called upon a large group of inexperienced underclassman.

"They set the standards here," said rising sophomore defensive end Maurice Evans of the departed starters. "We're trying to step over that. Every year, we try to take it up a notch from what we did the previous year."

Evans and redshirt freshman Aaron Maybin started at left and right defensive end, respectively, for the Blue team on Saturday.

Evans assisted on two tackles. Maybin, who Bradley said he would like to see bulk up from his current 233-pound weight, led the Blue team with four stops.

"He's light, but he's awfully quick, and he does give us a chance on third down to be a pretty darn good pass rusher," Bradley said.

Gaines and rising junior Chris Rogers, the only two upperclassmen who figured to contribute time on the defensive line, started at the end spots for the White team going against the Lions' first-team offensive line. Gaines had four tackles, and Rogers had three, all for losses. Rogers also recorded the only two sacks of the day.

The defensive tackle jobs have also yet to be decided, and like at defensive end, many of the contenders are underclassmen.

Jared Odrick, a 6-foot-5, 290 pounds rising sophomore, started for the Blue team. Redshirt freshman Abe Koroma, listed at 6-foot-3, 312 pounds, and rising sophomore Phil Taylor, who said he's slimmed down to 326-pounds from his listed 337-pound weight, manned the middle of the defensive line for the White team.

"There's a couple of them that could be really, really good," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said before the game. "There's potential there. We've got three, maybe four kids that can play inside that are strong enough and quick enough."

Between them, Odrick, Koroma and Taylor have four career tackles. All of them were recorded from Odrick last season.

"The potential's great," Taylor said. "We just need to execute the things that we need to execute and we can be great."