Instant Analysis: Penn State Gets Slow Start, Strong Finish From Beau Pribula in Win
The Penn State Nittany Lions Football team defeated the Wisconsin Badgers 28-13 in a tough, gritty battle that featured injuries to several key Nittany Lions in the first half of the game. Our experts focus on the health of Drew Allar and what Penn State head coach James Franklin said after the game, plus what that might mean going forward. They also discuss how the offense took a few series but ultimately found its rhythm under backup quarterback Beau Pribula in the team’s 14-point fourth-quarter surge.
Finally, Nate Bauer and Greg Pickel discuss the defensive performance from Jaylen Reed and the team’s ability to execute on third down better in the second half, which led to another elite performance in the third quarter.
Penn State wins the battle of backup quarterbacks in the second half.
Allar was injured right before halftime and headed into the locker room before the rest of his team. On the way out, he tried to warm up but wasn’t able to play. Franklin discussed the exchange with his starting quarterback after the game.
“As you know, I’m not going to get into a whole lot of medical stuff right now, especially when I don’t have a whole lot of information. I wouldn’t necessarily describe it that way. It was, ‘Is he going to be mobile enough to give us a chance to run the offense the way we want to run the offense?’
“And it really came down to Drew once he came out. I asked him to be very honest, and he just didn’t feel like he was [able to] and even like at the end of the half there you saw even throwing was challenging,” he said.
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That meant that Pribula needed to step up for his team. The Penn State program and Franklin’s belief in Pribula were never in doubt.
“He’s played some significant time in the past. I think that is obviously always really valuable, but in this type of environment, on the road those things are significant, they’re significant for his development. I think they’re significant for our team’s development. You talk about the amount of games we’re playing now, depth across the board at every position is really important.”
The next one is a big one
Penn State will play Ohio State next weekend in the Big Noon game on Fox. It’s one of the most consequential games of the college football season. Bauer and Pickel discuss that and preview the showdown to end the video.