Penn State will start preseason camp with a quarterback competition; how long will it last?
INDIANAPOLIS — Penn State coach James Franklin did the expected during his podium speech here at Big Ten Media Days by not naming a starting quarterback ahead of preseason camp. The leader of the Nittany Lions said the program is still “in a competition phase” between expected winner Drew Allar and his sophomore classmate, Beau Pribula.
The pair are vying to replace four-year starter Sean Clifford, who is now with the Green Bay Packers. Allar played last season, completing 35 of 60 passes for 344 yards and four touchdowns. Pribula did not see game action during his first year on campus. However, the former will not just be handed the first-team job, which should be no surprise to longtime Lions followers who know how Franklin operates.
“Obviously there’s a lot of people talking about Drew and what he brings to the table,” Franklin said. “He was able to get a ton of experience last year. So, I understand why the excitement is there. Can make all the throws. But Beau Pribula was a guy that everybody in our program has a ton of respect for as well. So, that’s going to be an interesting competition throughout the entire camp.”
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Allar will be expected to take the first reps when preseason camp begins. But Franklin, who later quipped that his program has had a competition at quarterback every year of his tenure regardless of whether the incumbent was returning or not, is in no hurry to pick a winner. But, he doesn’t want to wait forever to name a starter, either, in conjunction with offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich. It begs the question: When could a starter be named?
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“Obviously the sooner, the better,” Franklin said. “But we’re not going to rush any of these decisions at any of these positions. We grade everything in every practice. So all the data will be there. Obviously you’re going to trust your gut and your instincts on those things as well, but you have the data to back it up.
“I think at any of these positions, the sooner, the better. It’s probably magnified at the quarterback position because you don’t rotate and play the same type of way that you do at some other positions. It will be watching how they move the offense, the confidence that their teammates have in them and the data and analytics that go into it as well to make sure that what your gut is telling you aligns with what the numbers say.”
