New coach James Franklin takes center stage at Penn State spring game

New Penn State head football coach James Franklin leads about 70,000 fans in the "We are Penn State" cheer between the first and second quarters of the Blue-White game in State College, Pa. The Blue squad defeated the White squad 37-0 in the 2014 Blue-White Game, Penn State's spring football scrimmage. The game was also new head coach James Franklin's first in Beaver Stadium. (AP Photo/York Daily Record, Chris Dunn) YORK DISPATCH OUT (The Associated Press)

New Penn State head football coach James Franklin leads the team onto the field at Beaver Stadium for the Blue-White game on Saturday, April 12, 2014. The Blue Squad defeated the White Squad 37-0 in the 2014 Blue-White game, Penn State's spring football scrimmage. The game was also new head coach James Franklin's first in Beaver Stadium.(AP Photo/York Daily Record, Chris Dunn) YORK DISPATCH OUT (The Associated Press)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – As he has been since he was hired as Penn State's head football coach in January, James Franklin was front and center Saturday during the Nittany Lions' Blue White Game, the scrimmage that marks the end of spring drills.

He positioned himself behind the offensive formation throughout the game "basically to control the quarterback" and between the first and second quarters addressed the crowd and led a We Are . Penn State cheer in front of a crowd announced at more than 72,000.

The Blue defeated the White, 37-0, which was no surprise since most of the expected starters were assigned to the Blue squad.

Cole Chiappialle, a sophomore from Beaver Falls, Pa., was the game's leading rusher with nine carries for 63 yards and two touchdowns.