Intriguing quarterback fit for Penn State Football enters the portal

As Penn State Football mulls potential quarterback options in the transfer portal, an intriguing prospect has entered, one Penn State football could be interested in.

Texas Tech quarterback Alan Bowman announced Friday that he will be entering the transfer portal, and he has three years of remaining eligibility for his next stop.

Bowman, a former three star recruit in the 2018 class had an interesting career at Tech, one that showed true promise but was plagued by injury.

The Grapevine, Texas native was named the starter as a true freshman in 2018 by then head coach Kliff Kingsbury. He had a fairly stellar season playing in Kingsbury’s air raid attack, throwing 2,638 yards and 17 touchdowns in only eight games, missing four games due to a collapsed lung.

The 2019 season brought more of the same for Bowman, he threw for over a thousand yards and and six scores in three games before breaking his collarbone and eventually redshirting the season to keep the year of eligibility.

Last fall Bowman suffered an ankle injury, but did throw for 1,602 yards and 10 touchdowns in eight games for the Red Raiders.

The redshirt sophomore was at his best in two of the Raiders biggest games with Texas and Oklahoma State. He threw for 384 yards and three touchdowns against the Cowboys while throwing for 331 and five scores in an overtime loss to Texas.

When asked about the quarterback position at his end of season wrap up press conference, Franklin was non-committal about the quarterback situation, saying he likes the guys he has in that room, but would not rule out adding a signal caller through the portal.

The addition of offensive coordinator mike Yurcich also adds a different element to the position, as potentially he views the current quarterback situation differently than Franklin after he does his due diligence on Clifford, Levis and Roberson.

Yurcich was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State when Bowman was a recruit and did not offer him coming out of Grapevine High School. However, Bowman has a similar skill set to Mason Rudolph, who starred In Yurcich’s offense at Oklahoma State, throwing for 13,618 yards and 82 touchdowns i four seasons.

Bowman and Rudolph are both pure pocket passers with big arms who can make all the throws. They even have similar body types as Rudolph is listed at six-foot-five, 230 pounds while Bowman is six-foot-three and 215 pounds. It is easy to see how Bowman could be a fit for what Yurcich and Penn State Football will want to do on offense next season.

The question for Franklin is whether or Bowman presents a definitive upgrade over what Penn State Football currently has on their roster at quarterback. Sean Clifford is the presumed starter, with potentially Will Levis and Ta’Quan Roberson pushing him for the job.

Bowman has put some some big numbers in limited game action due to the injuries, but has also thrown 17 interceptions in 14 games and does not pose any type of running threat whatsoever. Clifford is not necessarily a dual threat, but has run for 737 yards in the past two seasons as a starter. The Red Raiders air attack also may have bloated Bowman’s passing stats as well, as the red Raiders routinely play high scoring shootouts in the Big 12 conference.

It will ultimately be up to Franklin, Yurcich and the rest of the Penn State Football staff to decide if Bowman is worth the shot, and if he makes them better upon his arrival in Happy Valley.

The former Red Raider is certainly the best and most intriguing quarterback prospect now in the portal, and should garner a lot of power five attention.