It would be unfair, nitpicky or just plain wrong to say Penn State quarterback Drew Allar had a poor season in 2023. The Ohio native completed basically 60% of his passes and totaled 2,631 yards in 13 games.
More impressive, Allar posted a 25-to-2 touchdown-to-interception ratio that included the lowest interception percentage (0.51) in program history while becoming the first Big Ten quarterback since 2000 to open a season with 175 more attempts before throwing a pick.
As solid as that might appear for a sophomore and first-year starter at a major college program, the crazy part is that it may pale in comparison to what Allar accomplishes this fall for the Nittany Lions.
Allar should be getting more recognition than he does nationally — and I think there’s a good chance that will change with Andy Kotelnicki taking over as Penn State’s offensive coordinator from Mike Yurcich (fired in November).
Hired away from Kansas, where the Jayhawks averaged 446.1 yards per game, Kotelnicki must loosen the reins on Allar and adjust the risk/reward balance in Penn State’s passing game, a move that should favor the maturing Allar.
“Some of the things systematically we’re going to do, you might say, ‘I don’t know if that’s something I would imagine Drew doing,’” Penn State coach James Franklin said at media day.
“But by [Allar] doing just enough of it, it opens up and creates opportunities for other things in our offense and makes us difficult to defend.”
The comfortability Franklin has with Kotelnicki calling plays is evident. Entering his 11th season at Penn State, Franklin can also sense something different with all of his quarterbacks.
“There’s a reason for all those guys in that room to be excited,” Franklin said.
That starts with Allar and the fact that this could become a breakout season for him on a much larger stage, starting with No. 8 Penn State’s opener Aug. 31 at West Virginia.
The top quarterback recruit in the Class of 2022, Allar has done everything right since arriving at Penn State. He sat and learned behind Sean Clifford, whose attitude and leadership positively impacted Allar.
Now, Allar has taken on his own increased leadership role, holding his teammates accountable and serving as the liaison between players and coaches. Even learning a new offensive system doesn’t seem to be much of a challenge these days for Allar.
“I definitely feel more natural now,” Allar said. “I’m always going to be a lead-by-example guy first. But I want to be that vocal leader. I want to be that communicator between players and the coaching staff.
“I was able to learn behind Sean my first year. I didn’t know what he was going through. It’s different. I’ve learned a lot of things over the past year about football, life. I think I’ve been able to really apply that.”
It also helps that Allar isn’t the only offensive weapon Penn State has.
The backfield tandem of Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen should be very good. Those two shared team MVP honors last season while totaling 1,654 yards on 343 carries (4.8 average) with 14 touchdowns.
Tight end Tyler Warren (422 yards, seven touchdowns) will be a key piece, as well. There’s a slight question on who will catch passes from Allar, though Harrison Wallace III, Liam Clifford, Ohio State transfer Julian Fleming and Omari Evans are showing they’re capable of handling more.
Should the scheme and talent around Allar click the way it’s supposed to, that could be enough for Penn State to break through that ceiling that has encapsulated the Nittany Lions over the past few seasons.
Despite regularly toppling Big Ten welterweights, Penn State has done little against the big boys, losing 11 of 14 to Michigan and Ohio State since 2017.
“We’re playing a lot of talented teams this year,” Allar said. “We have to take a business approach. If we do that, I think it will help our offense get better and better and build off of that.”
It’s entirely possible that Allar could wind up as the second-best quarterback in the Big Ten.
Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, a sixth-year player with 14,865 yards and 125 touchdowns in his career, deserves top-billing. Also up there would probably be Kansas State transfer Will Howard, who’s surrounded by a bevy of weapons at Ohio State, as well as Will Rogers going from Mississippi State to playing for Jedd Fisch at Washington.
But I’m not sure I feel comfortable dropping Allar any lower than No. 2, especially with how Kotelnicki’s offense — big on motion, shifting and chunk plays — could improve things.
Good time for it, too.
With the 12-team playoff finally here, Penn State must take another step. They need to challenge Ohio State, Oregon and Michigan, and Allar’s ascent gives them the best chance to do that.
“It’s a different thing we’re going to experience this year,” Allar said.
“Like we always preach, you can’t get to that point if you’re focusing on that point right now. We have a lot of things that we have to get done as an offense. We can’t overlook anybody.”
