Penn State coach James Franklin updates Drew Allar's status after Tuesday's practice
Penn State held its first practice of Michigan State week on Tuesday. The Nittany Lions opened practice to reporters a day earlier than normal due to the Thanksgiving holiday and the game being on Friday and not Saturday. Starting quarterback Drew Allar went through drills in pads and his uniform during the media viewing window. But, he was not seen throwing during it. What is the latest on the second-year Lion and first-year starter?
“We didn’t throw him today while you guys were out there, just so you guys could blow up Twitter and Instagram. But yeah, we just did that just to mess with you guys. No, that’s not the case. But no, we’re still confident that he’ll be ready to go Saturday.”
Franklin held his first game week news conference on Monday. He was optimistic then that Allar, who left last weekend’s game early in the third quarter, would be available to start against the Spartans. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
“We expect Drew to go,” Franklin said. “Just like we planned on last week, I still think both of those guys will have roles. And I think Beau will be ready to go. He did a great job. He didn’t flinch. The staff, the players didn’t flinch, and went in and made plays week I have like we expected him to make.
“But, it’s too early for me to say. We have not practiced yet since the game. All indications I think we’ll be back to normal.”
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Penn State has a plan if Allar is unavailable
Time will tell if Allar can play or not. But, if not, or even if he can but is limited, Penn State will turn to backup Beau Pribula. He came in and did damage against Rutgers with his legs for much of the second half last Saturday en route to a 27-6 win. That is true even if he only threw and attempted one pass. More throws would be expected if he must play the entire 60 minutes at Ford Field.
“I think a couple of it is it’s situational, right? Like, we’ve had passes in for him every week, but then you also get into a situation where the majority of his reps have come in four-minute football where you’re trying to run the ball as much as you possibly can,” Franklin said. “By running the quarterback, you even the numbers out.
“I think part of it is where you’re at in the game and does the situation warrant that. As you can imagine, there has been more in his package than what you’ve seen.”
Franklin added:
“I think your point is a fair one, that, if we were game planning for Drew to be the primary quarterback, it would be a little bit different [than] if we were preparing for Beau to be the primary quarterback. We would emphasize different things. But, that’s why it’s good that when you guys asked me before, I said that really our model and plan doesn’t need to change based on the information that we have right now.”
