Ryan Day preparing for Drew Allar, Beau Pribula in Penn State offense

When Ohio State meets Penn State this weekend in a pivotal showdown in the Big Ten, head coach Ryan Day knows his team will have to be ready for multiple quarterbacks.

Starting quarterback Drew Allar suffered a left knee injury late in the first half of a win at Wisconsin, and backup Beau Pribula could see some run even if Allar is able to play.

“Yeah, we’ll prepare for both guys being healthy and ready to go,” Day said. “They both bring different things to the table, but both are very effective in what they do. So we’ll go based on what we’ve seen and what’s on the film. But yeah, we have to know who’s in the game.”

Allar has been the mainstay for Penn State this season in a much-improved offense.

He has thrown for 1,640 yards with 12 touchdowns, against just four interceptions. He has also run for 129 yards and three touchdowns. His improvement has been noticeable in new coordinator Andy Kotelnicki‘s offense.

But Pribula is no slouch either.

“Regardless, we knew we were going to have to prepare for both quarterbacks,” Day said. “And both do things, they both do, they run, they throw, and they both can do the things very well. So they’re both talented in what they do, they’re just a little bit different in the way their skill set is set up. But like you said, we knew we were going to have to prepare for both anyhow.”

Pribula so far this season has gone 18-of-23 passing for 200 yards and three touchdowns. He has thrown one interception. He has also rushed for 133 yards and a touchdown, averaging 6.3 yards per carry.

Ohio State will need to anticipate which guy Penn State goes to and then react accordingly.

It should make for a bit of a chess match, assuming Allar is actually healthy enough to play. Coach James Franklin said he might be a game-time decision.

Ohio State and Penn State are set to square off at noon on Saturday, with a national broadcast on FOX.