PFF released its 2024 college football previews of the quarterback and running back positions this week, showing some love to Penn State despite a down year offensively in 2023.
With a pair of stars returning to the Penn State running back room, it’s not much of a surprise to see PFF place the Nittany Lions’ rushing tandem at No. 4 in its preseason top 10. Having Penn State’s quarterbacks ninth, though, may catch some eyes.
Drew Allar, whom PFF called perhaps the “most disrespected quarterback in college football,” is entering his junior year with a lot of weight on his shoulders and first-year offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki behind him.
Penn State finished just 77th in the country in passing yards per game in 2023, but PFF issued an 86.3 grade to Allar — a top-20 mark — and highlighted his ball security. Allar’s 25 touchdowns and two interceptions landed him second to Oregon’s Bo Nix in fewest turnover-worthy plays, according to PFF.
Allar went over 300 passing yards just once, the season opener against West Virginia, and fell short of 200 yards on six occasions. PFF chalked up Allar’s struggles to his environment — an offensive coordinator who was fired midseason and a receiving corps whose leader had just 673 yards. The first-year starter finished 2023 with 2,631 passing yards, 25 touchdowns and two interceptions on a 59.9% completion rate.
PFF also liked what backup Beau Pribula showed in limited snaps last season, offering a 79.8 grade, and gave a shout to highly touted freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer. Fellow Big Ten teams Oregon (No. 2) and Ohio State (No. 4) were ranked in the top 10.
As for the running backs, Penn State fell behind only Ohio State, UCF and Georgia in PFF’s ranking. Since joining Penn State in 2022, Nicholas Singleton is second in the Big Ten with 3.7 yards after contact per carry, while Kaytron Allen is second to only former Michigan standout Blake Corum with an overall 92.1 rushing grade.
Singleton (1,061) and Allen (882) became the first Big Ten freshman duo to ever record 700-plus rushing yards apiece back in 2022. They were slow out of the gates in 2023, failing to record a 20-plus yard run until Game 7 at Ohio State, but the duo wound up as Penn State’s team-selected offensive MVPs at the end of the year.
Allen led the way with 902 yards on 5.2 yards per carry, while Singleton finished with 752 yards on a 4.4 yard-per-carry average. Penn State’s depth beyond Singleton and Allen is unproven, but it’s full of talent, including redshirt freshman Cam Wallace and 4-star freshmen Quinton Martin and Corey Smith.
Wallace rushed seven times for 36 yards in this spring’s Blue-White Game, while the early enrolling Martin ran six times for 34 yards and two touchdowns. Smith is a summer enrollee.
With the addition of Kotelnicki, who turned Kansas into the nation’s eighth-best rushing offense in 2023, Penn State has reasonable hopes to improve on its Big Ten-best 184.8 rushing yards per game from 2023. The biggest question is whether Kotelnicki can actually turn Allar into a top-10 quarterback in college football.
Penn State will begin 2024 season with back-to-back noon kickoffs
Penn State will open the 2024 college football season with back-to-back noon kickoffs, it was announced Thursday.
FOX Sports has selected the Nittany Lions’ opener at West Virginia for its Big Noon telecast on Saturday, Aug. 31. They will play the Mountaineers in Morgantown, W. Va., for the first time since 1992.
Penn State’s home opener against Bowling Green Sept. 7 at Beaver Stadium also will have a noon kickoff and will be televised by the Big Ten Network.
The Lions’ home game Sept. 28 against Illinois will start at 3:30, 4 or 7:30 and will be televised by a network to be announced.
With Penn State’s home game Nov. 2 against Ohio State expected to be picked by FOX for its Big Noon telecast, the date for the annual White Out Game at Beaver Stadium remains up in the air.
The only other options appear to be the Illinois game or the UCLA game on Oct. 5. The Lions’ remaining Big Ten home games are against Washington (Nov. 9) and Maryland (Nov. 30) and are not likely to be moved to prime time that late in the season.
This is the first season that FOX, CBS, NBC and BTN share the exclusive rights for Big Ten football.
FOX will have a noon game every Saturday from Aug. 31 through Nov. 30, when it will televise the Michigan-Ohio State game.
CBS will have a 3:30 p.m. game every Saturday from Aug. 31 through Nov. 30. It also will carry the Big Ten championship game for the first time, scheduled for 8 p.m. Dec. 7 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
NBC, which still carries Notre Dame home games, will have a 7:30 p.m. game every Saturday from Aug. 31 through Nov. 30. It either will involve a Big Ten team or the Fighting Irish or both.
All remaining games will be selected six or 12 days before they’re played.
