STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Coach James Franklin is kicking off his tenth season at Penn State, and there's a lot of talk about who will be his starting quarterback at the beginning of the season.
"Drew Aller and Beau Pribula, obviously, in year two, they look like guys that are year two in the same system. Mentally, they look like guys, year two physically. They've both gotten stronger, and they've both gotten leaner. They both gotten faster. They've gotten more confident with their reads. So they've been a bit impressive," said Franklin.
"I'm a competitive individual. They're not, so it's it's a fun experience. But you also have to take it day by day, you know, it's fall camp. It's a long run. We've got a long way to go and thinking too much into the future or worrying about the past. That's Something you can't do. You've got to go day by day," Pribula said.
"I'm not focused on that. Right now. I'm just focused on taking it day by day and keep stacking and keep learning and keep building chemistry with the whole offense," Aller said.
Coach Franklin says This is the most depth he's had at every position going into the season, and no position is guaranteed. It's a competition, and Coach Franklin wants to create competition meant to bring the best out in each player.
"Football is a tough physical game, so anybody can go down at one moment. And we can't have a drop off when the twos or the threes go in, so and we want to be able to rotate guys in as much as we can so when the fourth quarter comes around and games, we're all fresh," Aller said.
"It's awesome to have the competition. Each of us are getting better each day. And just having guys that have experience in the room asking questions just building that chemistry has been awesome so far," said linebacker Tyler Eldson.
"We got guys who can come in, and it's no drop-off. We got like 3d. You got a lot of great tight ends, you got running backs. You got the quarterbacks, I feel like, and then a defensive stat. So, at every position, you got guys who can come in, and they practice like there was competition is high every day. And it's everybody trying to fight for that number one spot because that's what everybody wants to do ultimately," said wide receiver Ke-Andre Lambert-Smith.
Penn State's Defense played a major role in its success last season. With many players returning this year, they are eager to get back on the field and make opposing teams work hard to beat them.
"We're relentless, and we want the ball just as much as the offense wants to score. So I feel like that's going to take us a long way," said cornerback Kalen King.
"I will say our speed, our main thing is D line, this whole difference is the speed, speed, speed. Speed kills everything. So I say our main thing is our speed," said defensive end Chop Robinson.
There are high expectations for this season's team. Many of the last year's leaders, including Sean Clifford, have moved on. Coach Franklin was relying on some of the Young guys to step up and lead, including Wyoming Area graduate Dominic DeLuca. DeLuca was chosen as this year's special teams captain.
"It's an awesome deal. I mean, I'm just having my teammates have the trust in me to lead the team and take control," said DeLuca.
"That was a big part of this offseason, a big emphasis, and I think it's been really great to see that development and younger guys, and I think it's very big for not only this year's team but teams moving forward," said tight end Theo Johnson.
Penn State will kick off the season in primetime against West Virginia in its home opener.