Okay, yes, Penn State Football fans are always told not to overreact to spring scrimmages because they are glorified practices and fall games are still months away.

But, after the Blue and White game, I thought it would be fun to wildly overreact to what the Nittany Lions put on the field Saturday.

Four overreactions for the Penn State 2024 Blue and White game.

1. Quinton Martin could be running back 1C.

Quinton Martin finds the end zone for #PennState in the Blue-White Game. pic.twitter.com/B5AXN9WCtj

— Nittany Central (@NittanyCentral) April 13, 2024

Quinton Martin has been on campus for less than four months, but the true freshman looked like a seasoned veteran on the field Saturday.

Martin scored two touchdowns for the white team while carrying the ball well all day. His size and athleticism look different when he touches the ball and he is a star in the making for the Nittany Lions.

Martin certainly made the most of his time as Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen rested and recovered during the scrimmage Saturday. If Martin continues his development and shows what he showed at Saturday’s scrimmage, he could make a case for a three man rotation with Singleton and Allen this fall.

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2. AJ Harris Will Break Penn State’s First-Round Curse

 

Penn State Football has never had a defensive back drafted in the first round of the NFL draft.

Joey Porter Jr. almost broke the curse in 2023 when he was selected with the first pick in the second round, but the streak will remain at least another year with no former Nittany Lion defensive backs projected in the first round this year.

If the blue and white game was any indication though, Georgia transfer AJ Harris could very well become Penn State’s first defensive back selected in the first round. Harris was all over the field for Penn State Saturday and easily looked like Penn State’s top cornerback.

The former five-star recruit showed why he was so heralded out of high school breaking up multiple passes in the endzone and racking up four tackles in the first half, including a nice tackle for a loss on a screen pass to Kaden Saunders.

Harris certainly looks like a steal out of the portal and could be a lockdown corner for Penn State over the next two years before he is draft-eligible.

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3. Abdul Carter will lead the Big Ten in sacks

 

Abdul Carter made the transition from linebacker to defensive end this spring and showed Saturday that the transition is going very well.

Carter‘s quickness off the edge rivals former Penn State defensive end Chop Robinson as Carter was living in the backfield Saturday. With the quickness off the edge that Carter showed, he could easily lead the team and the Big Ten in sacks this fall if he continues to progress at the position.

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4. Beau Pribula should be competing for QB2 not QB1

 

All the talk of a quarterback competition between Drew Allar and Beau Pribula looks odd, as Allar easily looked like the best quarterback on the roster in Saturday’s scrimmage.

Pribula struggled to throw the ball and took off running way too quickly on many plays. His accuracy is still below Allar and Grunkemeyer in the Penn State quarterback room, although his athleticism helps him out in making splash plays with his legs.

Throwing the ball, however, it seemed as though Pribula should be competing with Ethan Grunkemeyer for Penn State’s QB3 position rather than having a glorified competition with Allar. Twice Saturday Pribula threw questionable balls that were easily picked off by the defense, one luckily negated by a sack before the throw. Time will tell whether Pribula just had a bad day throwing the ball or if Pribula could be better used as a gadget quarterback running the ball and let Grunkemeyer take over QB2 duties.

Alright, wild overreaction over. Penn State has plenty of work to put in before the season opener at West Virginia, but the blue and white game should have given fans plenty to be excited about for the 2024 season.

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