Defense dominates Blue-White, but QB Allar shows his potential for Penn State

STATE COLLEGE — Drew Allar’s path to the starting quarterback job at Penn State seems clear, even though Saturday afternoon’s Blue-White game was largely a defensive struggle.

The Blue team edged the White, 10-0, at Beaver Stadium. The Nittany Lions’ top two quarterbacks, Allar and Beau Pribula, handled most of the snaps for both teams.

Coach James Franklin will take his time naming his starter, but it’s going to be Allar if he’s healthy, though Franklin and offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich like the potential of Pribula, Allar’s classmate.

Allar finished 19 of 30 for 202 yards, and he teamed with second-year wideout Omari Evans for the only touchdown, a 28-yard scoring strike down the middle late in the first quarter.

Pribula, a Central York grad, finished 10 of 26 for 92 yards and an interception.

At least one Penn State receiver already knows there is a significant difference between Allar’s arm strength and Sean Clifford’s.

“His velocity that he throws with,” said second-year wideout Kaden Saunders when asked what impressed him the most about Allar, who was Clifford’s backup in 2022. “Actually, we gotta tell him to slow it down sometimes. He throws a great ball. He places it where only we can get it.”

Saunders, who, like Allar, was an Ohio high school star, said he was familiar with Allar’s lasers from catching some during their prep days. But the other Penn State wideouts have had to learn about Allar’s right arm on the fly.

“For a couple of receivers, I could tell it’s a big difference with the two of them (Allar and Clifford),” Saunders said.

The defense seems ahead of the offense. The unit is stacked with talent at every position, save for defensive tackle. And two more young defenders put on a show Saturday: second-year end Dani Dennis-Sutton (two sacks, quarterback hurry) and freshman linebacker Tony Rojas (nine tackles, pass breakup).

It didn’t help that Franklin’s offense was shorthanded. The Lions’ top two runners, Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, played sparingly. Their top two tight ends, Theo Johnson and Tyler Warren, did not play, and neither did standout left tackle Olu Fashanu.

If not for the performances of Sanders (four catches, 57 yards) and Evans (5 catches, 80 yards), the game might have ended in a scoreless tie.

Allar still needs more help. Penn State is looking for a solid third receiver to go with KeAndre Lambert-Smith and Harrison Wallace, two other players who saw limited snaps Saturday.

Allar did miss some throws, and he almost had a second touchdown pass just before half. But time ran out after Allar’s 24-yard completion to wideout Tyler Johnson positioned the Blue offense at the White 6.

“I would say that 70 percent of the game you’re going to get clean in the pocket, especially with the offensive line we have,” Allar said. “The other 30 percent is where you can really help the offense … turn nothing into something and create more explosives for the offense.”

Penn State’s No. 3 wideout could be on the team now if Evans and Saunders continue to develop over the summer. The Lions could have four receivers to spring on defenses.

“Obviously, Omari’s a really good wide receiver,” Allar said of Evans. “Every one of our receivers are here for a reason. Omari did some really good things this spring. … He created a lot of separation, I thought.

“He had a lot of separation at the top of his routes. Obviously, he has unreal speed. He has really good hands, and I think he’s really coming into his own.”

Or … Franklin and Yurcich could turn to Kent State transfer Dante Cephas, a proven deep threat who is expected to be on campus in time for August practices.

“We can’t throw enough,” Franklin said when asked about Allar’s Blue-White showing. “We need more wideouts to compete at a high level, and I’m not talking about even from the outside (of the program).

“We need six guys (receivers) that we feel like we can win in the Big Ten with. And I think that we have six guys on our current roster that can do it, but they’ve got to step up.”