Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1514597
2 4 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 4 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M KEY LOSSES None KEY RETURNEES Drew Allar | Jr. Started all 13 games for Penn State as a true sophomore and fin- ished the season with 233 completions in 389 attempts (59.9 per- cent) for 2,631 yards, with 25 touchdowns and just 2 interceptions. Beau Pribula | R-So. Backed up Allar in his first season of action after redshirt- ing as a true freshman. Pribula was used primarily as a runner, totaling 56 carries for 329 yards, but he also threw 4 touchdown passes, including a 48-yarder to running back Nick Singleton in the Peach Bowl. Jaxon Smolik | R-Fr. Saw the only game action of his freshman season in Penn State's 63-7 win over Delaware in September, finishing without a passing attempt. NEWCOMER Ethan Grunkemeyer | Fr. Enrolled at Penn State in January after being rated by On3 as the No. 7 quarterback and No. 107 overall prospect nationally in the 2024 recruiting class. Grunkemeyer threw for 3,517 yards and 39 touchdowns as a senior at Olentangy (Ohio) High. 2024 Outlook In some ways, Allar's first season as Penn State's starting quarterback went about as well as anyone could have reasonably expected. He finished fourth in the Big Ten with a 136.9 passer rating, trailing only Michigan's J.J. McCarthy, Ohio State's Kyle McCord and Maryland's Tau- lia Tagovailoa. Despite playing in two fewer games than McCarthy, he threw more touchdown passes (25) than the Michigan veteran (22), and his 2 interceptions put him in a tie with Florida State's Jordan Travis for the fewest in the FBS among quarterbacks with at least 150 passing at- tempts. And yet, Allar struggled in Penn State's three losses. Against Ohio State, Michigan and Ole Miss, his completion rate dipped to 45.2 percent. The team's overall offensive fortunes declined accordingly, with the Lions av- eraging 17.3 points against the Buckeyes, Wolverines and Rebels — 24.6 points below the scoring average in their 10 victories. Allar shouldn't be expected to shoulder all of the blame for the team's in- termittent offensive woes; the Lions' problems at wide receiver have been well documented and were especially glaring in the Peach Bowl, a game in which PSU didn't complete a pass to a wideout until early in the fourth quarter. "We've got to make plays for him when we have the opportunity to make plays for him," coach James Franklin said of Allar following PSU's 38-25 loss to Ole Miss. "I think there are some things that he can do to be more consistent as well, but the biggest thing is that we've got to be able to scare people and be a threat consistently on the perimeter." Penn State is hoping that the impending arrival of Ohio State transfer Ju- lian Fleming will help boost the receiver corps, and the staff is likewise hop- ing that Allar will thrive under the guidance of new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki. While at Kansas, Kotelnicki helped Jalon Daniels complete 66.1 percent of his passes for 2,014 yards and earn second-team All-Big 12 honors as a junior in 2022. Kotelnicki's arrival raises the question of whether everything is under consideration this offseason, including how PSU partitions the game reps at quarterback. Pribula attempted only 21 passes this past season, complet- ing 11 for 149 yards and 4 touchdowns. Whether we see more of him as a passer in 2024 will depend on how he adapts to the change in offensive leadership. One thing we do know is that Kotelnicki was able to harness Daniels' dual- threat capabilities at Kansas. In 2022, he was the Jayhawks' second-leading rusher with 425 yards and 7 touchdowns on 77 carries. Smolik, meanwhile, is entering his second year in the program after en- rolling last January, and he's joined by Grunkemeyer, a high-profile four-star recruit who stuck with PSU even after the coach who spearheaded his re- cruitment, Mike Yurcich, was dismissed as offensive coordinator in Novem- ber. At this point, the only certainty regarding Grunkemeyer is that his will be one of the more eagerly awaited debuts when Penn State plays its spring game on April 13. — Matt Herb Nittany Lions Looking For More Consistency In 2024 Drew Allar threw only 2 interceptions in his first season as a starter, a total that was tied for the fewest in the FBS among quarterbacks with at least 150 passing attempts. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL 2024 LOOK AHEAD QUARTERBACKS