Penn State Sports Magazine
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3 0 O C T O B E R 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 P enn State entered the 2023 season hoping that its offense was ready to soar. The Nittany Lions boasted a promising if untested quarterback in sophomore Drew Allar, along with a number of playmakers in the backfield and at receiver, and perhaps the best of- fensive line of the James Franklin coach- ing era. Through the first two games of the season, the unit had not disappointed. The Lions scored 101 points against West Virginia and Delaware, their highest sea- son-opening two-game total since rack- ing up 124 points in 2019. It's a fitting accomplishment, as that season featured Sean Clifford's first two college starts. He's now off to the NFL, though, and the Allar era is underway. Allar's tenure as starting quarterback began with a pair of wins in which the Lions moved the ball well. That was es- pecially so against Delaware, but PSU was also effective against West Virginia. "Offensively, I thought we were very efficient," Franklin said after the Lions beat the Blue Hens 63-7 in Week 2. "We were able to stay on the field, we were able to sustain drives. We were able to convert on third down. We converted a few times on fourth down." "The one [problem] is the penalties, and we've been pretty disciplined with that. I wasn't happy with [the seven pen- alties against Delaware]. But aside from that, I thought we played very efficient today on offense." Here's a closer look at each position group on offense after two weeks. Quarterback Penn State finally named Allar its starting quarterback less than 30 min- utes before the season started against West Virginia. It was understood that he would be the new leader of the offense, despite the gamesmanship by the coach- ing staff, and he did not disappoint in his first two outings. Through two weeks, the Medina, Ohio, native had completed 43 of 55 passes (78.2 percent) for 529 yards, 4 touch- downs and no interceptions, while look- ing like he was in complete control of the Lions' offense. So far, he has been everything everyone expected him to be as a former five-star prospect. Backup Beau Pribula played, too. The redshirt freshman scored his first col- legiate touchdown on the ground against West Virginia and then threw his first scoring strike when he hit sophomore Omari Evans for a 4-yard touchdown against Delaware. "Anything I can do to help this offense and create a different threat, I'm com- pletely willing to do that and get into the games to do what I have to do," Pribula said after the Delaware contest. As the season progresses, it will be in- teresting to see how the Lions play to his strength, which is his running ability. Will Penn State find a way to use him like it did Will Levis in 2020? Or will he strictly be a backup who comes in after the game is decided? Running Back The two-headed backfield was splen- did through two weeks. Sophomores Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen have been fueling each other, just as they did a year ago. Allen had 29 attempts for 154 yards and a touchdown heading into the Lions' Big Ten opener at Illinois, while Singleton had gained 117 yards and scored 4 touchdowns on 25 carries. Penn State used Minnesota transfer Trey Potts for mop-up duty, but this has been, and will continue to be, the Singleton and Allen show. "When he sees something and when I feel something, we both feed off each other," Allen said. Potts will see occasional work. The 5-foot-9, 215-pound redshirt senior showed some speed and strong vision in the Delaware game and continues to be a nice addition. Penn State's offense displays its potential in a pair of season-opening victories G R E G P I C K E L | G R E G . P I C K E L @ O N 3 . C O M Flash Forward Through the season's first two games, sophomore Drew Allar was second in the Big Ten with a 78.2 percent completion rate. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL