Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1540433
1 0 N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M A sked at his postgame presser to update the status of senior quar- terback Drew Allar — who had left Penn State's 22-21 loss to Northwestern late in the fourth quarter with an unspeci- fied leg injury — head coach James Frank- lin was uncharacteristically forthcoming. Seated at the front of the Beaver Sta- dium media room, Franklin paused, turned toward a group of people gathered at the entryway to his left, then delivered one of the more sobering pieces of news in a season full of them. "Drew will be done for the year," Frank- lin explained. "The reason I turned and looked is that I do not release that infor- mation until I clear it with the kid and the family. And I talked to Drew, but I had not heard back from the family before I came in here." Allar was hurt while trying to run for a first down on Penn State's final posses- sion of the game. He was tackled by a pair of Northwestern defenders and stayed on the turf while PSU's medical staff at- tended to him. After walking gingerly from the field, he was seen in tears on the sideline before being carted into the tun- nel for further treatment, his left shoe and sock removed. Allar was replaced by redshirt freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer, a fellow Ohioan and a four-star prospect in the Lions' 2024 recruiting class. Grunkemeyer was only on the field for one play against North- western, coming up short on a fourth- and-3 rushing attempt that ended Penn State's comeback hopes. He is expected to be the team's starter going forward, with redshirt sophomore Jaxon Smolik serving as backup. Prior to Penn State's visit to Iowa on Oct. 18, Grunkemeyer had attempted only 13 passes in his career, completing 9 for 114 yards, with a touchdown and an in- terception. Smolik, who missed the 2024 season with an injury, had yet to attempt a pass at the college level. Penn State's path forward figures to be challenging with a couple of unbeaten op- ponents on the horizon, a new quarter- back running the offense and an interim coaching staff in place for the duration of the season. However, in the aftermath of the Northwestern game, the thoughts of many Penn Staters were with Allar. "To see it end that way, you never want that," said athletics director Patrick Kraft, who appeared near tears himself. "No matter the outcome of the games, I want every one of our athletes to finish every- thing they start — in life and in games. "He's going to be an incredible pro foot- ball player. He's going to be an incredible ambassador for this program. And the fact that he stuck with us is pretty awesome. … He's faced a lot of adversity here, and I love the kid. He'll be great for us [in the locker room]. He'll be great for Grunk. He's a smart football player, and he has an in- credibly bright future at the highest level." Allar had arrived at Penn State as a five-star prospect in the class of 2022, listed No. 28 overall in the Rivals Industry Ranking and No. 3 among quarterbacks nationally. He quickly became the face of PSU's football future. Despite spending his true freshman season as Sean Clif- ford's backup, he made appearances in 10 games and set the stage for a 2023 season filled with lofty expectations. Allar went on to start all 13 games as a sophomore and delivered on much of that promise. He completed 233 of 389 passes for 2,631 yards, with 25 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions. His performance INJURY BRINGS AN ABRUPT END TO DREW ALLAR'S CAREER N A T E B A U E R | N AT E . B A U E R @ O N 3 . C O M NEWS & NOTES Allar finished his career with 7,402 passing yards to rank fourth in Penn State history behind Sean Clifford (10,661), Trace McSorley (9,899) and Christian Hackenberg (8,457). PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS