Penn State coach James Franklin has said several times, before and during the season, that he'd like to play quarterback Beau Pribula in more than just fourth-quarter situations. Franklin even said that Penn State had a Pribula package planned for the Ohio State game.
Now, could the Nittany Lions play an offensive series with Pribula and Drew Allar on the field simultaneously? Franklin hinted at the possibility before Penn State hosts Indiana on Saturday at Beaver Stadium.
"I think obviously there's some plans for us each week to try to get Beau and Drew on the field at the same time, which I think can cause some conflicts and cause some challenges," Franklin said Thursday on the Penn State Coaches Show. "If you just put Beau on the field by himself, people defend you differently. So with those two guys on the field at the same time, I think that can cause some issues."
That certainly would be new, since Penn State has not come close to playing Allar and Pribula together this season. Pribula played in the season's first six games but did not see action in the Lions' 20-12 loss at Ohio State. Franklin said that the offense "had some plans to use Beau last week as well," which did not happen. Following the game, Franklin said that he didn't want to make the change in a one-possession game.
"So to make that type of change, I don’t know if that’s the right thing to do for our locker room and I don’t know if that’s necessarily fair to Drew," Franklin said in Columbus.
Though the two-quarterback offense is new, Franklin has pitched the idea before of deploying Pribula as a change-up. He also has given Pribula significant reps for a backup quarterback. According to Pro Football Focus, Pribula averaged 13.2 snaps through the first six games, playing a season-high 28 against Delaware. But Franklin had not publicly suggested playing both quarterbacks together until Thursday.
"We've been very pleased with Beau, and Beau has done a nice job and we had some plans to use Beau last week as well," Franklin said on the Coaches Show. "I think so far this season he's been able to get into the game, play really well, run the offense. We're not really changing the scheme, we're just kind of emphasizing things that make sense for him and his style."
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