Drew Allar is more than just arm talent, Mike Yurcich says

STATE COLLEGE, PA — The Penn State Nittany Lions are in the middle of their 2023 spring practices right now, which will lead up to the infamous Blue-White spring game on April 15th. So far, there have been many questions to address heading into a season full of massive expectations this fall, though Drew Allar does not appear to be one of them. According to Penn State football offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich, Allar has been impressive during spring ball, not only with his arm, but with his vision and knowledge as well.

Mike Yurcich is impressed with Drew Allar thus far in spring ball

Drew Allar — the nation’s No. 1 recruit in the 2022 class — has long been said to be the savior of Penn State football. Now, in fairness, the 19-year-old college student has not started a game in the Blue and White just yet and looks to take over a fairly young offense for the first time this fall. That being said, the tangibles are all there, and Allar has already impressed many during spring ball.

One of the people that Drew Allar has impressed thus far is third-year offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich, who recently discussed how Allar is developing and what stands out to him the most during spring ball.

“I think he has really good vision,” Yurcich told the media last week. “I think he understands the game, he works really hard at it. He’s a tremendous worker.”

While Drew Allar has been Penn State’s standout so far, both Yurcich and Franklin have pointed to Beau Pribula as surpassing expectations this spring as well.

“To be honest with you, Drew [Allar] and Beau [Pribula] have been really impressive so far,” head coach James Franklin said. “You can tell they’ve worked at it.”

Penn State football does not have quarterback controversy, but it does have options when it comes to the QB room

While no one has come out and said it just yet, it is expected that Penn State football will role with former five-star quarterback Drew Allar in their season opener against West Virginia on September 2nd. That being said, while the Nittany Lions do not have a “controversy” in their QB room, the program certainly has options.

“From a rotation standpoint, obviously we would like you keep it as even as possible,” Franklin told the media during his first spring presser. “We kinda have it structured that was at practice. Specifically, with Beau [Pribula] and Drew [Allar] — we try to keep it as even, from a reps standpoint, as possible. Right now we really have it structured in a way, based on our depth right now, that all three of them will get the same number of reps.

“I think it’s really important in spring ball — at all the positions — that everybody is getting an opportunity to compete and develop … At some point we gotta transition and get ready for the first game. So the plan is to split the reps evenly and then, obviously as we start to get a little bit of bumps and bruises and have to adjust to practice … Right now we’re starting out even, reps across the board for all three of them and then — obviously specific to Beau and Drew — really making sure that we protect those two guys’ reps as much as we possibly can.

“There could be some situations where Beau actually gets more reps [than Drew Allar] by the end of spring because I think there’s some things that we may want to do with Beau to take advantage of his skillset. Maybe create an opportunity for him to get more experience, not only during spring ball but in games next [season] as well, so we’ll see how that all plays out.”

With two different skillsets on the table, Penn State football has options at quarterback. From what we can tell, Drew Allar is living up to the hype in the staff’s eyes.

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