Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1503568
3 4 A U G U S T 2 0 2 3 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M / / / / / / / 2 0 2 3 F O O T B A L L P R E V I E W / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / PRESEASON ANALYSIS ★★★★★ National Title; ★★★★ Top 10; ★★★ Top 25; ★★ Too Unproven; ★ Major Concern STARTER ★★★ For now, sophomore Drew Allar is an enigma upon whom Penn State fans can project their hopes and dreams, but also their misgivings. If you're one of those glass-half-full fans, you're most likely expecting a strong showing from the former five-star prospect, based on his assured performances in relief of Sean Clifford last year, particularly in the season opener at Purdue. He entered in the third quarter of a game that was very much in doubt and didn't shrink from the spotlight, completing 2 of 4 passes for 26 yards. If you're a glass-half-empty kind of fan, how- ever, you might be looking warily at Allar's slen- der collegiate résumé, while noting that even some of the better quarterbacks in recent college football history have faced their share of difficul- ties as first-year starters. Allar was an elite prospect coming out of Me- dina (Ohio) High in 2022, but his sterling high school credentials won't have any bearing on what happens from here on out. This figures to be the most compelling storyline of the season for PSU and potentially the most decisive. EXPERIENCE ★★ A year ago, Penn State had one of the most experienced starters in all of college football. Clif- ford was 24 years old when he took the reins for his fourth season as the Nittany Lions' starting quarterback, and his veteran savvy turned out to be one of the key components in the Nittany Lions' 11-2 finish. Clifford's talent for getting PSU into the right play at the line of scrimmage was one of his greatest assets, one that helped him become the program's career leader in passing yardage. The situation is very different this year. Clifford had seen 2,127 snaps in his collegiate career by the time Penn State opened its 2022 campaign at Purdue. Allar has played 148 snaps to date. His likely backups — redshirt freshman Beau Pribula and true freshman Jaxon Smolik — haven't played any yet. That'll change in a hurry this fall. Allar will likely eclipse last year's total snap count sometime in Week 2 against Delaware, or maybe Week 3 at Illinois. And even if Pribula begins the season as the backup as is widely anticipated, he can expect to see action on a frequent basis with Penn State's coaching staff eager to take advantage of his dual-threat potential. DEPTH ★★ The Nittany Lions would surely feel better about their depth at the quarterback spot if they had managed to hold onto Christian Veilleux. But keeping skilled backups in the fold is increasingly difficult these days, and it's a virtual impossibil- ity when the backup in question has been sup- planted by a younger teammate. That's what happened to Veilleux. He had shown promise while playing behind Clifford in 2021, but Allar passed him on the depth chart last summer, giving rise to speculation that the former four-star prospect from Ottawa, Ontario, would leave PSU at his earliest opportunity. Sure enough, Veilleux headed to Pitt in December and is now competing for the Panthers' starting job. That leaves Pribula and Smolik, whose public appearances to date have been confined to the Blue-White Game. It's also worth noting that there were no walk- on quarterbacks on the roster as of early July. Mason Stahl, a two-time all-conference quar- terback at Baldwin High in Pittsburgh, began his career as a walk-on quarterback but was moved to wide receiver last year. OVERALL GRADE ★★★ This grade is entirely provisional. Could be too high, could be too low. For now, there's almost no data upon which to base an evaluation. There are, however, a couple of interesting footnotes that bear mentioning. Footnote No. 1 is that the 2023 season will be only the third in James Franklin's decade at Penn State in which the Nittany Lions have fielded a first-year starter at quarterback. The two previous first-year starters fared quite nicely. In 2016, Trace McSorley led the Big Ten in total offense (282.4 yards per game) and guided Penn State to the conference championship and a Rose Bowl berth. Three years later, Clifford was fourth in the league in total offense (254.7 yards per game) and led the Nittany Lions to an 11-2 finish and a Cotton Bowl victory. Beau Pribula is poised to see his first game action this fall after sitting out as a true freshman in 2022. PHOTO BY DANIEL ALTHOUSE