Penn State Sports Magazine
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Site Lines C O M M E N T S F R O M T H E L I O N S D E N A T B L U E W H I T E I L L U S T R A T E D . C O M MAY 2024/VOL. 39, NO. 9 MANAGING EDITOR Matt Herb CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Stu Coman Cathy Jones Chris Riffer WEBSITE PUBLISHER Sean Fitz WEBSITE EDITOR Nate Bauer STAFF WRITER Greg Pickel RECRUITING REPORTER Ryan Snyder FOOTBALL ANALYST Thomas Frank Carr CONTRIBUTING WRITER Jim Carlson PHOTOGRAPHY Daniel Althouse, Bill Anderson, Steve Manuel, Mark Selders COVER PHOTO Steve Manuel DESIGN Jeanette Blankenship Chris Miller F F F PUBLISHER Mark Panus BUSINESS MANAGER Linda Autry CIRCULATION MANAGER Tristin Shears ADVERTISING SALES Maria Taustine (502) 552-4390 CUSTOMER SERVICE Crystal Clayton, Cathy Jones (800) 421-7751 BLUE WHITE ILLUSTRATED (USPS 742-550) is published monthly, except June, by Coman Publishing Co., a division of On3 Media, Inc., located at 905 W. Main St., Suite 24F, Durham, NC 27701. A one-year (11 issues) subscription is $68.00. First-class, digital and foreign rates available on request. Periodicals postage paid at Durham, NC 27701 and additional mailing offices. Printed by The Papers, Milford, Ind. POSTMASTER: Please send address correc- tions/changes to BLUE WHITE ILLUSTRATED, PO Box 2331, Durham NC 27702-2331. For advertising or subscription information call 1-919-688-0218 or write BLUE WHITE ILLUSTRATED, PO Box 2331, Durham NC 27702. W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M ON DREW ALLAR'S DEVELOPMENT THIS SPRING … Sounds like Drew Allar might be on his way to a career- changing season. However, his (and the coaches') em- phasis on being "free and loose," while likely producing more touchdowns, also opens the door to one of those two- or three-interception kind of games that can crush your confidence. How Allar responds to a bad game like that will go a long way toward writing the season's outcome, for Drew and PSU. Remember Matt McGloin's horrible game vs. Ohio State … then the next season he caught fire. McGloin never lacked confidence. I'm not sure about Allar. He seems to me to be a little too nice. Hope the kid proves me wrong. While I do believe 2024 will be a special season, I'm just not sure in which direction. — bobe Isn't it funny how the rest of the team is having "ball security" beaten into their heads this spring, while at the same time I detect a hint of "You can't play quarterback fearing interceptions, Drew!" being beaten into his head. Of course, both approaches are the right ones, in my opinion. — SJLuvsLions The receivers have got to help Allar gain some confidence. If they can make a few tough receptions in traffic, the entire offense will grow. So often last season, the receivers couldn't find the lane. If they would have sat down or just climbed a bit, they were open, but they were not adjusting. Very few speed changes, also. — NLE24 I've never seen a group of wide receivers who couldn't get separation. Allar's options were limited … very limited. — pamdlion I agree with Drew dropping 10 to 15 pounds. That's going to make him a lot quicker in this offense. Hopefully, he can get down to 230. I'm pumped to see him do some running this season. Beaver Stadium will be so excited. Love what I'm hearing about the Andy Kotelnicki offense. — Spice67 It felt like conservative "ball control" at some point early in the [2023] season became the coaching staff's declared identity for the offense, and perhaps Drew's tendencies were a direct result of it. Penn State was do- ing quite well with that approach, too, as long as our defense kept the offense on schedule and we could move the ball on the ground. But as soon as PSU faced a quality offense that could push the defense back a bit (Ohio State, Michigan, Ole Miss) and a quality defense that could slow down the run game, the whole math equation crumbled. That's where I think the coaches failed majorly. They didn't recognize that their conservative strategy may not work against OSU and Michigan, and they certainly didn't have a creative plan to solve for that. I am hoping that a new system, new offensive coordinator and new strategy is all Drew and the receivers need to unlock more potential. — PaulPosluvzme I believe the offense was coached not to lose rather than playing to win. Please, let's not be afraid of winning this year. — Train027 ON AARON BROOKS WINNING THE HODGE TROPHY … Well-deserved for this class mat man. Aaron is such a competitor and an absolute all-around gentle- man. His faith is his bulwark, along with his great dad. … He is a pleasure to watch on and off the mat. — bcrane1917 Penn State has won more Hodge trophies than any other school since its inception, including almost twice as many as Iowa (7 vs. 4). — Got GSPs Carter Starocci could have easily won second place, or perhaps first. And after that, you have Greg Kerk- vliet and Levi Haines as undefeated national champs. An embarrassment of riches. — Niftylion 4 M A Y 2 0 2 4 Allar worked this spring to adapt to the changes that new coordinator Andy Kotelnicki is bringing to Penn State's offense. PHOTO BY RYAN SNYDER