If things go the way they’re supposed to, quarterback won’t be an issue at Penn State for a while.
This season’s projected starter, Drew Allar, was a five-star recruit and is a player who some expect to be the best to ever play the position at Penn State.
Allar is from Medina, Ohio, and those who follow recruiting expect the guy who succeeds Allar at Penn State to be an Ohio product as well.
That guy is Ethan Grunkemeyer, a Class of 2024 four-star from Olentangy High School in Lewis Center who continues to rise and threw for 444 yards and four touchdowns in his senior season debut Aug. 18.
Is it two early to speculate what Class of 2025 QBs Penn State may be looking at? That depends on who you ask. But, regardless of how one feels about how much speculation is too much, Bekkem Kritza can play.
Kritza, a four-star Class of 2025 QB has been putting up numbers since his true freshman season. In 2021, at Fairview High School in Boulder, Colorado, Kritza threw for 22 touchdowns, eight interceptions and more than 3,000 yards.
By the following season, Kritza had moved to California, where he played at Santa Margarita Catholic. Kritza didn’t get as much playing time due to Washington State signee Jaxon Potter being the starter. But he made the most of his reps.
Kritza ended the year completing 24 of his 35 passes, throwing three touchdowns and running for another.
Kritza lives with his aunt, whose job requires her to move around the country, he said. Therefore, Kritza will be at a new home again this season, playing for Miami Central High School, where he plans to be for the rest of his high school career.
Miami Central features a Class of 2024 Penn State commit in DL T.A. Cunningham.
It’s too early to tell where Kritza will commit, but after visiting Penn State the last weekend of July for its annual Lasch Bash, he told Nittany Sports Now that PSU is ‘at the top’ of his list.
“I’m being completely honest, they blew me out of the park with everything,” Kritza said. “They showed me that I’m the guy that they want in their class and they’re going to come after me as hard as they can. Just them showing me that and me seeing the campus, the community, the fans, talking to the coaches. I have a great relationship with all the coaches.”
Kritza broke down his relationships with some of Penn State’s coaches.
On head coach James Franklin: That’s my guy. I can’t speak good enough about him. I mean, he’s a great guy, great coach, and that’s who you want leading your program. You want someone like him.
On QB coach/offensive cooridnator Mike Yurcich: Man, if I were to just put one word to describe coach Yurcich, it would just be genius. Honestly. I listen to every word he says, I take it to heart every time. So, I mean, just having a guy like that, having someone that’s been in the game, knows the game and knows how to get you to the next level, that’s a big thing for me. That’s one of the things for my commitment, actually, is I want to go somewhere where the coaches, they have experience.
On assistant QB coach Danny O’Brien: That’s who I’ve really gotten tight with is Coach Danny. I talk to him pretty much every day. Me and him have a real personal connection.
Physically, Kritza has a solid build at 6-foot-5 and 200 pounds.
Mentally, Kritza describes himself as “a leader.”
“Just doing all the small things, doing all the little things right,” he said. “Because you’re the most talented guy on your team, and a guy who doesn’t play that much, if he sees you doing the little things, than that tells him, ‘I can’t slack off.'”
Allar is a guy who Kritza talked to on his last visit. He said the two spoke about Yurcich and what to expect from his system.
“The thing with coach Yurcich is he’s going to trust you, and if you trust him, the trust if both ways, he will let you have the freedom in that offense is what Drew told me,” he said.
Kritza also sees similarities between himself and Allar.
“My physical (attributes) and skills are around the same,” Kritza said. “His height (6-foot-5), his body weight, his arm strength and things of that nature. So just seeing that and how it’s going to play out this year, I think will be a great thing for me.”
Kritza is a football junkie. He loves watching film of NFL quarterbacks such as Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert and Trevor Lawrence.
“I watch so much film on the NFL guys, man,” he said. “(I’m) just a student of the game, really. I can talk about those guys for days, man.”
Kritza said he has no specific timetable to make a commitment. He plans on visiting Penn State Sept. 30 for its White Out game against Iowa, which he’s pysched for.
“I have a lot of Penn State fans showing me love and just a bunch of things like that,” he said. “So I can’t wait to see those fans, see how rowdy they get, and that all white stadium is going to look really clean, really nice. So, I can’t wait.”
