Penn State QB Drew Allar puts on a show, talks future in crucial step forward
The scene on the sideline at the end of Penn State’s Friday night game against Michigan State wasn’t all too different from the one last week: Drew Allar stood on the sideline and watched as backup Beau Pribula played the game out before the team ultimately took home the victory.
But how the team got there could not have been more different.
One week after a slog of a Rutgers game that ended for Allar when he was injured in the third quarter, he and the offense put on its best performance of the season, allowing him to sit out the final drives against Michigan State because of the work he put in before them.
Though it was his best game of the year, it would have been easy connect the dots and wonder if it would also be his last as a Nittany Lion. After all, the offensive coordinator — Mike Yurcich — that brought him to Penn State had been fired two weeks ago. But Allar made his intentions clear Friday — he plans to be at Penn State.
“I don’t think there’s any decision to make,” he said. “I’ve been committed here. Coach (James) Franklin is a huge influence on my life, not only on the field, but personally. I’ve definitely grown a lot since I’ve stepped on campus. I have no thoughts of anything like that.”
With that out of the way, the question becomes about building off this game and taking it to another level in the bowl and then again for next season.
For all of the questions about Allar and his struggles at times, his stat line remains impressive. He finished the regular season with 23 touchdowns and only one interception on 349 passing attempts that resulted in 2,436 yards. In his final game of the regular season, he completed 17 of his 26 passes for 292 yards and two touchdowns.
Those numbers don’t tell the full story, but they do give reason for belief in what comes next for the sophomore quarterback.
“I think if you just took that statistic,” Franklin said, referring to Allar’s 23-to-1 TD-to-INT ratio, “and told the 132 coaches in the country that their quarterback would have those stats before the season started, I think everybody would take it and run.
“As a first-year starter, I thought he did some really good things. ... I think he’s played really well. And I think he’s played really well all year long. Obviously there’s some areas that we need to get better as an offense and there’s areas that Drew needs to get better, there’s no doubt about it.”
The full story is still murky. Allar was one of the best quarterback recruits — if not the best — when he signed with Penn State as part of the 2022 class. He thrived in limited time last season when spelling starting QB Sean Clifford. But this year never looked quite that good.
It’s difficult to put much of the blame on Allar but, for one reason or another, the offense lacked a consistent rhythm. He would be forced to take sacks or throw the ball away because players couldn’t get open. He would miss targets on routes, whether he was off on the timing or the receiver was. He didn’t try to connect on deep passes, frequently choosing to throw the ball underneath.
All of those things are — on some level — his fault, but also point to a greater issue with the offense as a whole. But last week there were more flashes than there was rhythm and, after 12 days without Yurcich, the offense put together its best game of the season Friday — and so did Allar.
Pribula said the changes of the offense allowed for him and his teammates to play faster. So what did that look like for the offense?
“I think just shrinking the playbook a little bit,” he said. “And sticking to our basic stuff and not trying to get too cute with stuff. I think that just helps everybody. It helps the receivers, it helps the running backs, the O-line, it helps everybody and lets them play faster. We were noticeably playing faster in practice because of the simplicity.”
It was like everything that made Allar an elite prospect came flooding back. He worked his way through progressions — keeping his eyes on targets just long enough to ensure they weren’t an option — before finding the right pass to make. He launched a deep ball to Omari Evans that traveled 60 yards in the air before falling into his receiver’s hands. He moved comfortably in the pocket and on the run — although the latter wasn’t always perfect.
Those traits are what made him a passer people talked about as a first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Some will remain — justifiably —skeptical about this game. It came against a Michigan State program that is playing out the stretch before a full-time coach is named after Mel Tucker was fired early in the season.
But this game should not be taken for granted. After all, this not what the offense looked like against an Indiana team that lost to the Spartans last week.
Allar’s performance is a good building block the next offensive coordinator — Franklin said he’ll be doing Zoom interviews over the weekend for the job — and give a good idea of the levels he can reach if they can maximize.
Because, for all of the tumult of the 2023 season, all of it can go away with a better 2024 that results in the type of success fans have been yearning for under Franklin. The kind that ends in a playoff game.
And if this is the Allar that takes the field, one within an offense that elevates him rather than constrains him, then there’s more than enough reason to believe that will be the case.
This story was originally published November 25, 2023 at 7:00 AM.
