Penn State QB Drew Allar showed promise in 2023.
A first year quarterback could do much worse than 25 touchdown passes and two interceptions.
But things didn’t go perfectly, and if they had, Mike Yurcich would still be Penn State’s offensive coordinator.
Allar struggled in Penn State’s biggest games. In the team’s regular-season losses at Ohio State and at home against Michigan, Allar combined to go 28 of 62 for 261 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. In the team’s Peach Bowl loss to Ole Miss, Allar put up better numbers, going 19 of 39 for 295 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. But a chunk of those numbers took place in “garbage time” near the end of the game.
There’s reason for optimism ahead of Allar’s third college season and second as Penn State’s starting QB.
He has 13 college starts under his belt compared to zero.
He has a new offensive coordinator in Andy Kotelnicki, who came over from Kansas in December with much fanfare.
But one college football analyst wasn’t impressed with Allar’s spring game performance.
“Warning: This is tough to watch,” Travis May, college football managing editor of A to Z sports, posted to X (formerly Twitter).
Allar went 15-for-32 with 202 yards and a touchdown.
To be fair, it was a windy day in Happy Valley, and wind isn’t known to help a quarterback. May also didn’t point out any of Allar’s positive plays.
Still, May expressed worry.
“Penn State ranked 113th in explosive pass plays of 20+ yards last fall,” he wrote. “Not looking like it’s going to be markedly better early on…
Penn State coach James Franklin noted in his post-spring game presser that it will be important for Penn State to take advantage of the opportunities it has to work on its passing game over the summer.
“This summer is going to be really important,” Franklin said. “The positive thing is in college football you can improve in the passing game in the summer.”
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