Penn State head football coach James Franklin went over the Nittany Lions' quarterback competition during Big Ten Media Days on Wednesday.

“Everybody wants to talk about quarterback,” Franklin said during his opening statement, via 247Sports. “We're still in a competition phase. Obviously, there's a lot of poeple talking about Drew and what he brings to the table, and he was able to get a ton of experience last year. … I understand why the excitement is there.

“But Beau Pribula is a guy that everybody in our program has a ton of respect for, as well. So that's going to be an interesting competition.”

Sophomore quarterback Drew Allar, a former five-star recruit in Penn State's 2022 football recruiting class, played in 10 games for the Nittany Lions last season. He earned 344 passing yards and four passing touchdowns, highlighted by a two-touchdown performance against the Indiana Hoosiers in November. Freshman signal caller Beau Pribula committed to Penn State football's 2022 class in 2020. He held offers from Nebraska, Northwestern, Rutgers, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and West Virginia, among others, according to 247Sports.

Quarterback Sean Clifford, Penn State's All-Time leader in passing yards, was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. The native of Cincinnati, Ohio played in 13 games for Penn State last season, including the Nittany Lions' win over the Utah Utes in the Rose Bowl. Clifford finished the outing with 279 passing yards and two passing touchdowns, completing 16 of his 21 pass attempts as the Penn State football took the victory in Pasadena.

“I was here in 2016, one of the better Rose Bowl games, and watched somebody else celebrate, and I wanted this for them,” Franklin said in January, via ESPN. “I couldn't have written the script any better for Sean Clifford to be the offensive player of the game. … It's awesome to be sending these guys out the right way.”