Fox Sports' Joel Klatt has been a Drew Allar fan since, as he says, seeing the Penn State quarterback as a freshman at Purdue three years ago. Since then, Klatt's appreciation has grown, to the point that the analyst projects Allar as one of the nation's top five quarterbacks.
On a recent episode of the Joel Klatt Show, Klatt ranked the top 10 quarterbacks in college football, placing Allar at No. 5 on his list. Allar enters the 2025 Penn State football season as a third-year starter with a career quarterback rating of 144, a 52/10 touchdown-interception ratio and a 63-percent completion rate.
"I think that Drew Allar has gotten a bad rap from a lot of people, including some Penn State fans," Klatt said on the show.
But Allar also enters his senior year following an uneven postseason in which his highest ccompletion rate was 59.1 percent and in which he recorded three of his four lowest ratings of the season. Allar recorded his third-lowest rating (111.3) in Penn State's lone regular-season loss, to Ohio State.
"The next step for him and his team [is], you've got to go beat a team that you are either even with or some of us think might even be more talented than you," Klatt said. "Penn State has not gotten over the hump of beating the Michigans and the Ohio States of the world."
That will be a common refrain regarding Allar and Penn State this season and is something head coach James Franklin discussed in a recent interview with Rich Scarcella of the Reading Eagle. As Franklin says often, head coaches and quarterbacks get most of the scrutiny.
"I think he can player higher than this," Klatt said of ranking Allar fifth among quarterbacks in college football. "I wouldn't be shocked if Drew Allar was acutally in Heisman comversations during the course of the middle or even second half of the season. The tools are there, and so Allar has to go out there and prove it. So does Penn State, so does James Franklin."
What else we're watching with Penn State football
Think Penn State fans have scorn for Big Noon kickoffs? They're flying well below Ohio State fans, who might revolt if the Buckeyes get noon kickoffs for home games vs. Texas and the Nittany Lions this season. And the revolt might start in state government.
An Ohio representative has introduced a state bill that would require (!) Ohio State football games to kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET or later. According to Rep. Tex Fischer's bill, broadcasters or conferences that violate the law would be fined (!!) $10 million. The annual noon kick for the Ohio State-Michigan game would be exempt from a fine.
"I think it greatly degrades both the fan experience, and if you’ve got recruits going to that game ... they're being robbed of the opportunity to experience an absolutely incredible atmosphere," Fischer said told the Columbus Dispatch.
Penn State's Beaver Stadium renovation continues apace, with temporary seating for the 2025 season scheduled to be erected soon. Penn State also released new details regarding premium seating sales in the two clubs that will be housed in the new west tower.
Happy Valley United, Penn State's official NIL collective, will host its next event outside Pittsburgh in June. Franklin is scheduled to appear, along with former Nittany Lions tight end Pat Freiermuth, associate head coach Terry Smith and former quarterback Chuck Fusina.
Another interesting name on the guest list is Tom Bradley, the former Penn State defensive coordinator who served as an honorary captain for the Nittany Lions' 2023 opener. Prior to that game, Bradley had not attended a Penn State game at Beaver Stadium in 12 years. Check out Happy Valley United for more details on the event.
More must-reads: