Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1512721
W ords were barely necessary. The story of Penn State's 20-12 loss to Ohio State was written on Drew Allar's face following the late-October clash between two of the Big Ten's three unbeaten College Football Playoff aspi- rants. The Buckeyes had tormented Al- lar like no opponent had to that point in the sophomore's first season as starting quarterback for the Nittany Lions, allow- ing just 18 completions on a season-high 42 passing attempts and sacking him 4 times. Following the game, Allar stepped into the Ohio Stadium visitors' media room looking like he would have rather been anywhere else in the world, including possibly at the bottom of a pile of Buckeye pass rushers. His eyes were red, his cheeks puffy. He rubbed away tears as he fielded questions about the game and his role in its outcome. How would you assess the way you played personally? "I sucked." When is the last time you felt this way? "Probably my last high school game." Why's that? "Because we lost, and our season was over." Known for his unflappable on-field de- meanor, Allar tried to gather himself and refocus on the bigger picture. Unlike after that Ohio state playoff game in 2021, in which Allar's Medina squad was thumped 41-6 by St. Edward, there was still more football to be played in 2023. If anything could penetrate the postgame gloom, it was that heartening realization. Allar seized it as if spotting an open receiver at the end of a fourth-and-long scramble. "We talk about how everything is bless- ings and lessons in life," he said. "Obvi- ously, we lost the game, but this is a lesson for us. We have to learn from it. "I never want to feel like this again. I know a lot of guys in the locker room feel the same way about it. We just have to learn from this and correct everything that we need to correct and put it behind us and keep moving forward." The Nittany Lions did end up feeling that way again, falling to eventual Big Ten champion Michigan in a similar fash- ion three weeks later. The following day, they lost their offensive coordinator, too, when Mike Yurich was dismissed with two games left in the regular season. But amid all that upheaval, they kept moving forward. And thanks largely to Allar, they resumed winning, too. He tossed a 57-yard touchdown pass to ju- nior receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith with 1:47 left to lift PSU past Indiana, 33-24, the week after the Ohio State loss. And following a game-ending injury in the home finale against Rutgers, he bounced back and had one of his best performances of the season against Michigan State, completing 17 of 26 passes for 292 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 42-0 romp that propelled PSU into the Peach Bowl. "He's been confident each week, and I think his numbers back that up," coach James Franklin said. "His numbers are re- ally good. Have there been times when he hasn't been in rhythm? Yes. Have there been times when he's missed some throws that he would like to have back? Yes. Have there been times when we didn't pro- tect him as well as we should have? Yes. Sometimes we didn't create enough sepa- ration in the passing game, whether it was a tight end or receiver or running back. But we'll be having those same conversa- tions for the rest of his career." Numbers Game Allar ended the regular season with an impressive statistical résumé. He com- pleted 61.1 percent of his passes for 2,336 yards, and he received a 90.1 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, second among Big Ten quarterbacks and 12th in the Power Five conferences among passers with at least 200 dropbacks. Best of all was his ratio of 23 touchdown passes to just 1 interception. No starting quarterback in the Big Ten threw fewer picks than Allar, an accomplishment that, to someone as turnover-averse as Frank- lin, can't be overstated. "If you took just that statistic and told all 130 [FBS] coaches in the country before the season started that their quarterback would have those stats, I think everybody would take it and run," Franklin said. The Lions' numbers as a team were likewise solid. They averaged 37.2 points and 391.0 yards per game to rank second and fourth, respectively, among Big Ten teams in the sport's two most vital offensive categories. Those are not ordinarily the sort of statistics that cost your offensive coordinator his job and provoke page after page of message board angst W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 2 4 J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 4 TRUE BELIEVER Amid the highs and lows of a dramatic debut season as PSU's starting quarterback, sophomore Drew Allar reaffirms his faith in the program's process M AT T H E R B | M AT T. H E R B @ O N 3 . C O M Alla r le d a Pe n n Sta te o f fe n se t h a t ranked second in the Big Ten in scoring during the regular season with an average of 37.2 points per game. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL