Penn State coach James Franklin is frustrating some fans by not publicly naming a starting quarterback.
Everybody expects former five-star Drew Allar to get the job, and everybody assumes that Franklin and his staff know who the starting QB is.
Nonetheless, Franklin hasn’t made anything official on that front, and unless he makes an announcement at his first weekly press conference of 2023 this afternoon starting at 12:30, Penn State fans won’t know for sure that Allar’s the starter until Saturday night’s opener against West Virginia.
Interestingly enough, Franklin isn’t the only head coach in America or, for that matter, in Saturday’s Penn State-West Virginia game that isn’t naming a starter.
WVU HC Neal Brown met with the media on Monday afternoon and was asked if he was ready to announce the starting quarterback against Penn State. Brown didn’t budge and instead is rolling without naming the starter.
“We’ve went this far,” Brown said. “We might as well let it roll.”
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Brown currently knows who his starter is as of last week but won’t give James Franklin and the Nittany Lions any advantage.
“I know who’s going to play. I know who’s going to start, but I’m not ready to announce that yet. It’s been decided,” Brown said to the media last week.
“I feel good about both of them but one is a little further ahead,” Brown added.
All eyes immediately turn to Garrett Greene, who started the final three games of last season. Greene recorded 493 passing yards and five touchdowns in the air with 276 rushing yards and five more touchdowns from the ground. Greene helped the Mountaineers defeat Oklahoma for the first time in the Big 12 and Oklahoma State in Stillwater. Greene, who is entering his junior season, has sat behind former quarterbacks Jarret Doege and JT Daniels for the past three years.
The other candidate to look at is Nicco Marchiol, who is a top-30 recruit of all-time at West Virginia. Marchiol is entering his redshirt freshman year after appearing in two games in 2022. Marchiol went 2-of-4 against Towson with a passing touchdown. The Arizona native also played in the final game of the season against Oklahoma State where he threw for 29 yards and rushed for 32.
