In Football, the hardest position to nail at the College level and at the NFL level is the quarterback position. Having the right quarterback makes everyone else look better while the wrong quarterback could sink a team that's perfect almost everywhere else. As the big game losses continue to pile up for Penn State, the quarterback position deserves as much scrutiny as James Franklin.
Through the first four weeks of the season, Drew Allar hasn't looked like the potential 1st round pick he's been built up to be over the past few seasons despite the fact that they played 3 far inferior opponents. Through 4 games, Drew Allar is 71-113 (62.83%) for 763 yards and 6 touchdowns with 2 interceptions.
The Oregon Ducks made Allar look especially pedestrian as he went 14-25 for 137 yards and 2 touchdowns with the game sealing interception. While the horrible performance may be a surprise based on the track record it shouldn't be.
Ever since Drew Allar became the starter, Penn State lost to Top 10 teams in Ohio State and Michigan in 2023, Ohio State, Oregon, and Notre Dame in 2024, and now Notre Dame without beating a top 10 team. Only once in the Nittany Lions 6 big game losses, Allar has passed for over 200 yards which came last season in the Big Ten Championship.
Penn State may have fumbled the Beau Pribula decision
While Drew Allar's struggles are frustrating it becomes even more aggravating when you consider the fact that Penn State may have had the man for the job in the quarterback room. During the same time Allar was the starter, Pribula was his understudy and while he wasn't the starter, he showed flashes with 9 passing touchdowns to just 1 interception while rushing for 10 touchdowns.
Beau Pribula has gone to Missouri where he finally has the starting job and looks like one of the best quarterbacks in the Country. In his first 5 games, Pribula is 110-145 for 1,203 yards and 9 touchdowns with 3 interceptions against a much tougher set of opponents.
If you dropped Beau Pribula into this offense, it's impossible to imagine that it wouldn't look better both passing and rushing. Drew Allar may be the more talented player and when the NFL Draft takes place, Allar's tools will likely make him the higher draft pick. At the end of the day, Pribula is the better player at this stage and James Franklin and his staff may have made a mistake.