Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1519242
OPENING SHOT FRIENDLY FIRE Quarterbacks are always off-limits in the Blue-White Game. The down-by-contact rule has, over the years, brought a premature end to some potentially entertaining plays, but it's also kept Penn State's signal-callers unscathed even though they've been pursued by some of the best pass rushers in college football. That was the case again in this year's spring game, which took place April 13 at Beaver Stadium. Junior Drew Allar, redshirt sopho- more Beau Pribula, true freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer and redshirt freshman walk-on Jack Lambert compiled some fairly pedestrian statistics, teaming up to complete 24 of 51 attempts for 238 yards, with 2 interceptions and 1 touchdown. However, on a more im- portant note, they emerged from the annual scrimmage as healthy as they were when it kicked off. Grunkemeyer, shown here being chased by junior defensive end Abdul Carter, was seeing the first collegiate game action of his career. A January enrollee from Lewis Center, Ohio, he completed 4 of 8 passes for 11 yards and threw an interception in his public debut with the Nittany Lions. Earlier in spring practice, coach James Frank- lin said he'd been impressed with Grunkemey- er's acclimation. The 6-foot-2, 202-pounder is "really flashing and doing some nice things right now as a true freshman," Franklin said. Grunkemeyer was the No. 9 quarterback prospect in the country, per the On3 Industry Ranking, after throwing for a school-record 8,401 yards and 80 touchdowns in his career at Olentangy High. His development became a more acute concern when redshirt freshman Jaxon Smolik suffered an injury in spring prac- tice that Franklin described as "significant." Barring any more injuries, the success of Penn State's offense in the fall will mostly hinge on Allar's performance as a second- year starter. He accounted for nearly all of Penn State's passing offense in the Blue-White Game, hitting 15 of 32 attempts for 202 yards. Allar threw the game's lone touchdown pass, connecting with redshirt freshman tight end Andrew Rappleyea on a 30-yard strike in the final minute to complete the White team's 27-0 victory. "I think we had a good day offensively," Al- lar said. "There's going to be a lot of learning [from watching] the tape. I think the positives outweigh the negatives that we had on the field today." — Matt Herb PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL 8 M A Y 2 0 2 4