Penn State QB Drew Allar on pressure, expectations and what’s driving him in 2024

STATE COLLEGE — There might not be a more recognizable person on this sprawling campus than Drew Allar.

Penn State’s quarterback, the player tasked, fairly or unfairly, with pushing a football program and fan base over the hump, is an unassuming celebrity. But his 6-foot-5 stature, brown hair and boyish charm are easy to spot from 100 yards away.

Whether it’s students walking to class or fans milling around Old Main, Allar doesn’t mind posing for pictures. Admittedly, he does get a little weirded out by people “awkwardly” putting their phones at their sides and snapping photos of him walking past. But that comes with the territory of being QB1 in a football-obsessed college town, and he understands that.

“It’s always kind of been like that for me,” Allar said with a half laugh. “Honestly, it’s just kind of a football thing around here. It wears on me. But I wouldn’t change it at all.”

Allar has felt the weight of that attention from the moment he stepped on campus. And after a good-but-not-great, a solid-but-not-quite-transcendent first season as Penn State’s quarterback, the pressure and expectations that surround him aren’t going away any time soon.

Last month, Allar walked over from the Lasch Building, down the Morgan Academic Center steps and into a quiet conference room for a conversation. Allar spoke with PennLive at length about his five-star status, losses to Ohio State and Michigan, the responsibility he’s shouldered and a newfound confidence ahead of the Nittany Lions’ highly anticipated 2024 season.

‘Good, but not good enough’

An image seared in the minds of many from the 2023 season was Allar, sitting in the Ohio State visiting media room, fighting back tears. Minutes removed from a frustrating loss to the Buckeyes — the first of two demoralizing Big Ten defeats — Allar was asked by a reporter how he thought he performed at The Horseshoe.

“I sucked.”

Why do you say that?

“Because I did.”

Allar wasn’t the sole reason why Penn State lost to Ohio State and Michigan last year. The offense failed to support a stellar defense with only 27 total points in those losses — losses that eliminated the Nittany Lions from College Football Playoff and conference title contention. Offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich was fired in-season for his part in those shortcomings while an underperforming group of wide receivers made life difficult for everyone involved.

But it’s not in Allar’s DNA to shirk responsibility. His parents, Kevin and Dawn, instilled that in him at a young age. So it was no surprise to see him wear his heart on his sleeve and take accountability after the loss at Ohio State. He did the same after falling to Michigan.

“As an offense, we have to put our foot on their throat,” Allar said this spring. “… Those games, I took it harder than anything because I feel like the offense let the team down.”

Months after those debilitating defeats, after having time to reflect, Allar was asked if he was too hard on himself — if he assumed too much of the blame.

“No, that’s who I am,” Allar said. “I’ve been that way since middle school. I don’t want to be blaming anybody else. I know I didn’t have my best games, so I don’t want to point the finger. I know that if I went out and played better, we’d probably win those games. I definitely took those losses harder because of the magnitude of those games. If we won those games, the outcome of the season would have been drastically different for us.”

“Good, but not good enough,” is how Allar described his first year as Penn State’s starting quarterback. He protected the ball; his 25 touchdowns and two interceptions was the best ratio in the FBS. He showed flashes of brilliance. The 325-yard, three-touchdown opener against West Virginia was a perfect start to the Allar era.

But as the season progressed, warts started to show. The downfield passing attack wasn’t clicking. The ground game wasn’t explosive. The offense looked stale. And as the weeks went on and the outside noise got louder, the Medina, Ohio native lost track of why he started playing the game in the first place.

“Last year, I had fun at some points,” Allar said. “But by Week 4 or Week 5, it turned into more of a business, which it is. But I took the enjoyment out of it.”

That feeling only magnified when Penn State fell to Ohio State last October. A few weeks later, the Michigan loss led to the dismissal of the tightly wound Yurcich. The mood wasn’t so happy in Happy Valley.

Allar thought back to the warm reception he received around campus earlier that fall. Primetime blowouts of West Virginia and Iowa had the place buoyant. There was a buzz after the Nittany Lions’ 6-0 start. Then came the sobering losses to Ohio State and Michigan.

“Walking to class, you still got the stares,” Allar said. “Just not as many happy stares.”

‘Having fun and being myself’

There was a much-needed tonal shift at the Lasch Building this spring. Anyone within an earshot of practice would have heard a gregarious Minnesotan laughing and keeping players on their toes. There was a fresh enthusiasm, an undeniably different energy.

The arrival of Andy Kotelnicki could not have come at a better time for Allar and the Nittany Lions. Kotelnicki, a heralded hire from Kansas, is known in football circles as an innovative offensive coordinator, one who has done more with less in creative and interesting ways.

The success speaks for itself. Kansas, a longtime Big 12 bottom-dweller, reached bowl games and averaged 7 yards per play in back-to-back seasons, joining LSU, Oregon, Southern Cal, Georgia and Washington as the only FBS teams to be that explosive in 2022 and 2023. But numbers aside, what Kotelnicki has brought to the table so far since replacing Yurcich is positivity — a priceless trait for a unit that lacked confidence a season ago.

“We had it at times last year, but it’s just at a different scale this year,” Allar said. “There’s a lot more positive reinforcement and allowing guys to make mistakes. Obviously, we’re going to get on guys for mistakes. But mistakes are going to happen, especially with a new system. … The coaches are willing to live with that, correct it the next time and get on the same page.”

Last season, it was clear that the Nittany Lions weren’t on the same page. They overwhelmed inferior opposition, sure. But the offense was largely a difficult watch. Penn State ranked 97th in the FBS in plays from scrimmage of 20-plus yards. Against Ohio State and Michigan, Allar completed 43% of his passes and the unit averaged 3.8 yards per play.

A day after firing Yurcich on Nov. 12, James Franklin said the following: “Whether it’s openers, whether it’s third down, whether it’s starting fast, all those things are things that we’ve had lengthy discussions about and had a plan for. But a lot of times when we got to the games either we did not call the games that way or we did not execute the games the way we intended.”

Allar never publicly criticized Yurcich, a fellow Ohioan who recruited him to Penn State. But it’s clear the quarterback has taken a liking to Kotelnicki and the way he operates.

Allar said there’s “more transparency” between the quarterbacks, position coach Danny O’Brien, Franklin and Kotelnicki than there was last season. Kotelnicki has encouraged Allar (and the rest of the players) to have more of a say. Offensive meetings in the spring were roughly 10 minutes longer than they were previously to give players a forum and empower them to speak up.

“It starts with him and the whole offensive staff. He does a really good job of being positive with us and coaching us in the right, well not the right way, but in the sense that he’s gonna have us well-prepared,” Allar said of Kotelnicki. “He wants us to go out there and play fast, play confident. He always talks about winning with speed. Win with speed, be efficient, and all of that starts with him. He brings a positive energy, and that rubs off on us.”

“I appreciate it because I’ve always wanted to take that next step of becoming a more vocal leader,” Allar added. “I’m not the most vocal person by nature. But I’ve become a lot more comfortable speaking in team settings in front of people. … It’s important to be more vocal with the coaches about the things that I want in the game plan or voicing my opinion more throughout the week. Last year, towards the end of the season, I was heard more.”

Kotelnicki’s approach — and how the rest of the staff have moved forward post-Yurcich — has fostered an environment for Allar to grow into his own skin. And in an ideal world, that freedom and confidence will translate to greater success at the most important position on the field.

“One thing I’ve talked a lot to Danny about this offseason is playing loose and free, having fun and being myself,” Allar said. “They’ve done a great job of letting me do that. I think that’s when I’m playing at my best. And that’s the level I want to be at consistently.”

‘It drives me’

They say patience is a virtue. But rarely does it apply to the perception of and expectations on college quarterbacks. Allar understands that better than most.

It wasn’t long ago that Allar was a five-star prospect and the No. 1 quarterback in the 2022 recruiting class. He wasn’t highly-regarded when he verbally committed to Penn State; at the time, he was a modest three-star recruit. But from the moment he signed with the Nittany Lions, Allar was a star. Many viewed him as a cure-all who could lead Penn State to glory. There were some who even hoped he would start as a true freshman.

Those calls for him to take over — calls that got louder in the fall of 2022 — came at the expense of Allar’s mentor, longtime starter Sean Clifford.

“It was really weird at times because I heard all the things about Sean and the fans who didn’t want Sean in there,” Allar said. “It was tough to hear because I have a unique perspective being in the building with him every day. There is nothing Sean didn’t do to prepare for games. He was on top of everything. Great leader, and he had a great career here even though people probably don’t give him his flowers enough. That was the best thing that could have happened to me was learning behind an experienced guy like that.”

Clifford lost to Ohio State and Michigan in his final year but engineered an 11-win season and a Rose Bowl triumph. In the fourth quarter of the blowout win over Utah, Franklin subbed Clifford out and gave him his moment. Fans came to their feet to applaud the sixth-year senior. But there was also a loud cheer shortly thereafter for the 18-year-old who was replacing him.

From that point on, it was Allar’s time. Optimism and curiosity defined Penn State’s 2023 offseason with those across the sport’s landscape eager to see what he could do. After watching him start 13 games — winning 10 but losing three big ones — reviews were mixed.

“Good, but not good enough” is probably how the majority of fans would also describe Allar’s first season. The flashes were there. The struggles were real. There were positives and negatives and things (Yurcich, receivers, etc.) that were outside of his control.

Patience, above all else, is key. That’s how Allar sees it, at least.

“There’s definitely a lack of patience. And me being a fan, I’ve done my fair share of that,” the 20-year-old said. “But I try to look into other quarterbacks in history. Joe Burrow, for example. First-year starting quarterback at LSU, wasn’t a great year, wasn’t a bad year. But then he goes on to have probably the best single season in quarterback history at the college level. Wins the Heisman, first overall pick. There’s countless other examples.”

Allar pointed out Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, who, despite the interest around Arch Manning, led the Longhorns to their first CFP appearance last year. Allar also named Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, who rebounded from two pick-sixes in a CFP semifinal loss to TCU to win the whole thing this past season.

“I think there’s a level of patience people need to have with quarterback play because it’s not as easy as people make it out to be,” Allar said. “Like anything in life, the more experience you’re gaining, the more knowledge you’re gaining, as long as you’re learning from the mistakes earlier in your career you’re going to get better.”

That’s the hope for Allar. He might not have been the savior fans yearned for last year. But there’s reason to believe that Allar can still be that player. There’s reason to believe he’ll learn from the ups and downs of last year, play confidently under Kotelnicki and thrive. At the very least, that’s what Allar wants for himself — to be the one who can deliver a special season.

Asked what it would mean to help Penn State get over the hump, Allar smiled.

“It drives me.”