Penn State Enters Camp in a 'Competition Phase' at Quarterback
Drew Allar is Penn State's only quarterback who threw a pass or took a snap last season. The sophomore has been named in Heisman Trophy preseason polls and was among the four players who represented Penn State in a commercial promoting NBC's Big Ten broadcast. Yet he's not the Lions' starting quarterback. At least not publicly.
Penn State coach James Franklin said he doesn't plan to rush a decision, or at least rush announcing a decision, regarding who the Lions will start at quarterback against West Virginia on Sept. 2. At Big Ten Media Days on Wednesday, Franklin reiterated his position that Allar and redshirt freshman Beau Pribula will enter training camp in the "competition phase" for starting quarterback.
"Obviously there's a lot of people talking about Drew and what he brings to the table," Franklin said in Indianapolis. "He was able to get a ton of experience last year, so I understand why the excitement is there. He's 6-5, 242 pounds, can make all the throws. But Beau Pribula is a guy who 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."
The Lions, who open training camp next week, clearly are building around Allar, who played in 10 games and completed 58 percent of his passes last season. But Franklin continues to nurture the competitive balance between quarterbacks and the perception surrounding them. Indeed, when a reporter noted that Franklin hasn't had a starting quarterback competition for a while, the coach corrected, "Just to be clear, we've had one every year." Regarding a timeline, Franklin said he wanted to decide "the sooner the better."
"But we're not going to rush any of these decisions at any of these positions," Franklin added. "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. But 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. But it will be obviously watching how they move the offense, the confidence that their teammates have in them and then obviously a lot data and analytics go into it as well to make sure that what your gut is telling you aligns with what the numbers say."
Later in the media session, Franklin delved further into the quarterback competition, primarily Allar's end of it. He said the quarterback "lives the position," has changed his body composition since last year by adding strength and possesses an intangible that he showcased in his first college appearance against Purdue last season.
"We opened the season in prime time, a 'Blackout' conference game, and he got in there and just looked poised and confident," Franklin said. "All those other things you can develop and train, but that’s something that’s hard to develop and train. You either have that or you don’t. And he has it."
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