STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (WHTM) — Iron sharpens iron, at least that’s what the Penn State football coaches are hoping.

A pair of second-year quarterbacks in Drew Allar and Beau Pribula have split first team reps during spring practice with the hopes of naming a starter and making both players better.

“I think it’s been a really good competition,” said head coach James Franklin. “Those guys are battling. They’re both doing really good things. Sometimes it’s hard to compare and contrast because our one defense is is really good and talented.”

Allar would be considered the default favorite to start as he played backup to sixth-year quarterback Sean Clifford last seasons. Allar saw time in nine games completing 35 of 60 passes for 344 yards and four touchdowns.

But this spring, head coach James Franklin has equally split reps as first-team quarterback between Allar and Pribula.

The former Central York QB is listed as a redshirt freshman after being in the program since January 2022 but not seeing time in games.

“I would hope it would be a competition across the board just because we want to go out and play right and be the best that we can be,” Allar said on if he likes having competition in the QB room. “I think we need to have competition across the board at every position.”

Each of the three quarterbacks in the room, including true freshman Jaxon Smolik, present a different skill set, and its making for a good competition.

“Anytime you have a really talented quarterback room, like we did last year, it’s just going to make everybody better,” Pribula said. “Mentally, X’s and O’s or physically it makes you better. If someone makes a nice ball, it just makes you want to have a nice ball too.”

When asked Wednesday when the competition would be over, Franklin said they’ll name a starter when someone clearly emerges as the one. With 10 days until the Blue-White scrimmage, the pair still split reps evenly.

“By the way, we compete, we make each other a lot better,” Allar said. “We definitely punch each other in practice. We do a really good job of being there for each other and helping each other out. So I think we’re just two extremely competitive guys that are just looking to go out there and do the best we can for the team.”

With a handful of practices left to impress the coaches before a short offseason break, each spring practice is crucial to prove who should start on September 2 against West Virginia.

“I approach every day with the underdog mentality,” Pribula said. “You know, no matter what the situation is I’m going to act like this practice is next practices at the Super Bowl.”

The annual Blue-White Scrimmage will take place Saturday, April 15 at 2 p.m. inside Beaver Stadium.