The Penn State Nittany Lions are just three days away from opening up their 2022 college football campaign against Big Ten rival Purdue. But head coach James Franklin is making a notable change at quarterback before the big game.
According to Tyler Donohue of 247Sports, Franklin has decided to name freshman Drew Allar the backup quarterback against Purdue this Thursday. Allar will back up incumbent starter Sean Clifford.
Donohue noted that redshirt freshman Christian Veilleux was expected to get the primary backup job. But apparently Franklin has decided to evaluate the backup job on a weekly basis instead.
Veilleux was the backup in several games last season, completing 16 of 26 passes for 238 yards and three touchdowns. He’s a former three-star prospect who some analysts believe has NFL potential.
But Allar was one of the top prospects in the class of 2022. Franklin appears loathe to let the man sit and potentially leave for a team that will let him start sooner.
That isn’t to say that Drew Allar is likely to see much action against Purdue – not if the game is close, at least.
A blowout performance will probably see the former five-star freshman thrust into action as early as the fourth quarter of the game. Outside of that, we probably won’t see Allar other than situational plays.
As for Christian Veilleux, this decision probably doesn’t bode well for his chances of being named the starter after Clifford leaves.
Did James Franklin make the right decision here?