{"id":62700,"date":"2024-08-20T12:00:07","date_gmt":"2024-08-20T16:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=62700"},"modified":"2024-08-19T19:53:20","modified_gmt":"2024-08-19T23:53:20","slug":"previewing-the-2024-penn-state-quarterbacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2024\/08\/20\/previewing-the-2024-penn-state-quarterbacks\/","title":{"rendered":"Previewing the 2024 Penn State Quarterbacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Easily considered by most to be the most important position in college football, the quarterback is the captain of the offense and could be a coach on the field.\u00a0 Therefore, i<\/span>t is also the position that makes or breaks most games.\u00a0 <\/span>That makes it fitting to have this year’s final Penn State Position Preview be the Penn State 2024 Quarterbacks Preview.<\/p>\n

Penn State has a very talented signal caller entering his second season as the Nittany Lions starter.\u00a0 <\/span>Additionally, there is an exciting backup with a different skillset and untapped potential.\u00a0 However, <\/span>a Spring injury will likely force a highly regarded freshman into the third-string position.\u00a0 <\/span>New offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki will be in charge of bringing them together and continuing their development.<\/p>\n

Penn State 2024 Quarterbacks Position Preview: Bringing it All Together<\/h2>\n

Bringing it all together for Penn State\u2019s 2024 quarterbacks is the key to enabling the offense\u2019s success.\u00a0 <\/span>The group is relatively young but very talented.\u00a0 <\/span>The Penn State offense boasts one of the\u00a0nation’s most talented running back rooms<\/a><\/span>.\u00a0 <\/span>The quarterback will also be throwing to a questionable group at wide receiver<\/a>, and a talented tight end<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/span>Blocking up front by what should be a strong offensive line<\/a> will be an enabler for the quarterback.\u00a0 Consequently, <\/span>the quarterback will lead those position units and bring them all together.<\/p>\n

Penn State’s Past Quarterback Standouts<\/h3>\n

Penn State\u2019s quarterbacks have been hit or miss throughout the program\u2019s history.\u00a0 However, <\/span>some of the most notable Penn State football alumni are quarterbacks. \u00a0They include Todd Blackledge, Michael Robinson, and Kerry Collins.\u00a0 <\/span>Blackledge led the team to the National Championship in 1982 and won the Davey O\u2019Brien Award as the nation\u2019s top quarterback.\u00a0 John Shaffer was the quarterback for the 1986<\/span>\u00a0National Championship team.<\/p>\n

In more recent history, Penn State has produced quarterbacks that have gone on to the professional level, primarily in a backup capacity.\u00a0 The Baltimore Ravens drafted <\/span>Trace McSorley in the sixth round of the 2019 draft.\u00a0 Similarly, <\/span>Sean Clifford was a 5th-round pick of the Green Bay Packers in 2023.<\/p>\n

Performance of the Quarterbacks in 2023<\/h3>\n

In 2023, first-year starter Drew Allar<\/a> took the majority of snaps at the quarterback position.\u00a0 <\/span>Allar threw for 2,631 yards on the season, ranking #54 in FBS.\u00a0 <\/span>His ratio of 25 touchdowns to only two interceptions (23 to one excluding the bowl game) was impressive for a first-year Big Ten starter.\u00a0 <\/span>His completion percentage was serviceable but not great at 59.9% and he averaged 179 yards per game.\u00a0 <\/span>Other than Allar, Beau Pribula<\/a> was the only other quarterback to throw a pass. Appearing in 11 games, he completed 11 of 21 pass attempts for 149 yards and four touchdowns with zero interceptions on the season.<\/p>\n

The Penn State quarterbacks also brought an extra dimension to the offense, through running the football.\u00a0 <\/span>While Allar would not be described as a dual-threat quarterback, he did rush for 210 yards on 74 attempts with four touchdowns.\u00a0 <\/span>Pribula proved to be more nimble.\u00a0 <\/span>He finished the season with 329 yards on 56 carries with six touchdowns.<\/p>\n

Bringing it All Together in 2024<\/h3>\n

With a new coordinator running the offense, as a preview of Penn State 2024 quarterbacks, they will be charged with bringing it all together.\u00a0 <\/span>At Kansas, Kotelnicki\u2019s offense had a strong running game.\u00a0 <\/span>Similarly, Penn State’s run game will be strong with Nicholas Singleton<\/a> and Kaytron Allen<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/span>That should open up ample opportunities for the quarterbacks to show off their arm strength and distribute the ball to the wide receivers and tight ends.<\/p>\n

Allar is the undisputed starter (as previously covered when analyzing Allar heading into 2024<\/a>).\u00a0 <\/span>In 2023, he performed well against lesser competition.\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0Allar morphed into more of a game manager against the higher-level competition in the Big Ten.\u00a0 <\/span>This can be a driver of only throwing two interceptions.\u00a0 <\/span>In 2024, his junior season, Allar will need to show the confidence and ability to make big-time throws against big-time opponents.\u00a0 <\/span>A successful year for him would likely include more interceptions.\u00a0 <\/span>His performance against defenses like Ohio State and Wisconsin, as well as Big Ten newcomer USC, will likely define his season in 2024.\u00a0 <\/span>In taking more chances, his yardage, his touchdowns, and his national profile should also increase as well.<\/p>\n

Pribula should not get too comfortable on the sideline.\u00a0 <\/span>Kotelnicki will likely get creative with packages for Pribula to show off his skills.\u00a0 <\/span>As evidenced by the 2023 statistics, Pribula is more of a dual-threat weapon that can run the ball as well as pass.\u00a0 <\/span>He will likely be looking for opportunities to show that he can throw the ball as a redshirt sophomore.<\/p>\n

Completing the depth chart for the quarterbacks is likely going be true freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/span>As an early enrollee from the Spring, he is not likely to see the field much.\u00a0 <\/span>Grunkemeyer will be third on the depth chart due to a Spring injury to sophomore Jaxon Smolik<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Bottom Line<\/h3>\n

The 2024 Penn State quarterback position should be a position of strength overall.\u00a0 <\/span>As the quarterbacks, and Allar specifically, go so will the Penn State offense.\u00a0 <\/span>Coming off a solid statistical 2023 campaign, Allar will be looking to take the next step.\u00a0 <\/span>Success could mean Heisman consideration for him, and potentially National Championship aspirations for Penn State.<\/p>\n

Pribula will be a weapon for the offense, with the intention being as a backup and change-of-pace running style quarterback.\u00a0 <\/span>His ability to be successful in that role will give Allar some additional momentum (and rest) as well.<\/p>\n

The offense will be contingent on the quarterback\u2019s ability to manage the game.\u00a0Luckily, <\/span>there are a good number of weapons on the offense.\u00a0 <\/span>Be it the running backs or the tight ends, there are All-Big Ten-worthy contenders there.\u00a0 <\/span>At wide receiver, there are question marks but it will be a task of the quarterback to integrate them as well.<\/p>\n

The good quarterbacks are known as coaches on the field.\u00a0 <\/span>Working together with the quarterback will be Kotelnicki.\u00a0 <\/span>In his first year at Penn State, there are a lot of weapons and his success in his new role will be dependent on the quarterback\u2019s ability to bring it all together.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Photo courtesy: Matthew O’Haren-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n

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Easily considered by most to be the most important position in college football, the quarterback is the captain of the offense and could be a coach on the field.\u00a0 Therefore, it is also the position that makes or breaks most games.\u00a0 That makes it fitting to have this year’s final Penn State Position Preview be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5172,"featured_media":62707,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2],"tags":[32817,7983,2390,33995,33994,309,7524,4498,4013,225],"class_list":["post-62700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bigten","category-featured","tag-andy-kotelnicki","tag-big-ten-football","tag-john-shaffer","tag-kerry-collins","tag-michael-robinson","tag-penn-state-nittany-lions","tag-penn-state-quarterbacks","tag-sean-clifford","tag-todd-blackledge","tag-trace-mcsorley"],"modified_by":"Maggie Yarnell, Senior Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5172"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62700\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}