The Blue-White game, to me, has never been about what happens on the field.

After all, the game doesn't count, and the first game that does matter is more than four months away.

At most, the annual scrimmage provides an early possible depth chart. And even that will probably be irrelevant come the regular season.

What has always been more interesting than whether White upsets Blue is what happens before or after the game, or what goes on in the stands during it.

Perhaps that's why I left Saturday afternoon's game feeling that the estimated 71,000 who attended just took part in something special.

Last Monday's shootings at Virginia Tech -- judging by the amount of Chicago Maroon and Burnt Orange in Beaver Stadium -- affected a lot of those present on Saturday.

I did not personally know anyone that was killed, but I know some on this campus did. For me, I just felt awkward walking in front of the library a week ago with the knowledge that other college students some miles to the south went to their early morning classes and never left.

I presume most of those dressed in Hokies colors on Saturday had never met many of those who were killed either. But still, when Penn State offensive tackle Gerald Cadogan spoke to the crowd before the first play and said, "We are with you," as part of speech offering support to whoever needed it, he received a warm ovation and it felt completely appropriate.

Joe Paterno had his mind on the Virginia Tech tragedy, too. About an hour before Cadogan's speech, the coach walked into the media room underneath the South end zone for his pre-game press conference holding a maroon Virginia Tech hat.

The family of Penn State graduate Jeremy Herbstritt, a Virginia Tech graduate student killed in the shooting, had just presented Paterno with the hat. He was clearly touched by gesture and by the day in general.

"You get wrapped up so much in the little things, in the details ... and all of a sudden you come to a day like today," Paterno said.

After fielding football questions for about 30 minutes, Paterno ended the press conference by reading a poem that reminded him of the Virginia Tech tragedy.

He said he first came across it in a biography of Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson that was written by a Virginia Tech professor.

The poem read, "A hero came among us, as we slept / At first he lowly knelt, then rose and wept / Then gathering up a thousand spears / He swept across the field of Mars / Then bowed farewell, and walked among the stars / In the land where we were dreaming."

"I think about the kids going to college with their spears to conquer the world, and all of sudden they're shot down," Paterno said.

The poignant moment represented what was most important about Saturday. It wasn't Anthony Morelli's performance or the final score.

For one sun-filled, 70-degree afternoon, a Blue-White record crowd took the time to remember what had occurred 400 miles away. Virginia Tech didn't feel too far from here.