James Franklin compares his two quarterbacks, breaks down spring QB battle

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — During this week’s media availability on Tuesday, the Nittany Lions’ head coach was able to speak on Penn State’s current quarterback battle and give insight on what his two sophomore QBs bring to the table. With Drew Allar and Beau Pribula both gunning for the top spot, head coach James Franklin really can’t go wrong with his Penn State football spring QB battle.

Head coach James Franklin breaks down the Penn State football spring QB battle

After four years of Sean Clifford, most Nittany Lion fans are ready for a bit of a change. They will get exactly that on September 2nd, when the Blue and White take the field for the first time in eight long months to face the West Virginia Mountaineers. One of Penn State’s rising sophomore quarterbacks — Drew Allar and Beau Pribula — will be named the starter by that point, and will take over as the first full-time starter not named Sean Clifford since Trace McSorley suited up in 2018.

Here is what head coach James Franklin had to say about the 2023 Penn State football spring QB battle this week:

“I would say [that I’ve been impressed with the QB room]. They have both gotten reps with the [starters] which has been good,” head coach James Franklin said when asked about the Penn State football QB battle. “They’re a different style of quarterback — which I think — you know that’s one of the things we are going to have to do a good job with during the season. It’s not like we can just come up with one exact same gameplan because they’re different types of quarterbacks.”

Similarities and differences

Even though James Franklin says that Allar and Pribula have their differences, he adds that both members of the Penn State football spring QB battle are similar in many ways.

“I would say the majority of what they do is similar,” Franklin told the media. “They’re both cerebral guys, they both have really high football IQs, they both really work at it — obviously Beau has a little bit more of an element with his feet.”

Penn State needs three game-ready quarterbacks

While Drew Allar has an incredibly talented arm, the Penn State offense is used to quarterbacks like McSorley and Clifford that can run as well, which may prompt Franklin and offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich to give Pribula more reps. With the Penn State football spring QB battle heating up right now, Franklin wants three quarterbacks ready to go by the Nittany Lions’ opener against WVU.

“We’ll see if we’re gonna take advantage of that,” Franklin said on Beau Pribula’s speed and quickness. “We’ll see how that plays out, but I think it’s been really good, those guys are working like crazy — at the end of the day, we better have three quarterbacks that we feel like we can win with. Jackson [Smolik] has done some nice things as well. Obviously between now and West Virginia we have a ton of work still to do — I think just throwing in general, we can’t throw enough.”

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