For Penn State's Drew Allar, Another Burning Moment Under the Spotlight

Allar froze on the field after Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman, a Purdue transfer, made the leaping interception in front of Reynolds to end the game. It had a harsher feel than last year's fourth-quarter interception against Oregon in the Big Ten Championship Game, which stopped a potential game-tying comeback. It also was more abrupt than the interception in the Orange Bowl that Notre Dame turned into the game-winning field goal.

This one came from left field but also was immediately recognizable. Even Allar admitted he hasn't been his best self in these moments, when Penn State can't afford a mistake against an elite opponent. But his reaction took a different tone, one hardened by living through these spots for three seasons.

As a sophomore, Allar broke down in the interview room following Penn State's 20-12 loss at Ohio State. He went 12-for-20 for 146 yards. "I never want to feel this way again," he said through tears after that game.

Allar faced it again in January at Hard Rock Stadium after a fourth-quarter interception for which he accepted responsibility but of which there was plenty to share. "Just got to learn from it and move on and take it on the chin right now," Allar said after that game.

And he continues to take it on the chin. Allar's record against AP top-10 teams is 1-6, with only a win over Boise State in the 2024 Fiesta Bowl. In those seven games, Allar's completion rate is 50.2 percent. He has thrown for more than 200 yards in just one of those games, against Oregon in the 2024 Big Ten title game. His touchdown/interception ratio is 8/5 and he has thrown five of his 12 career interceptions in those seven games.

Before the season, Allar addressed all this specifically — and honestly. Part of his offseason introspection centered on his performances against Ohio State (12-for-20), Oregon (20-for-29) an Notre Dame (12-for-23). He even watched film of the Penn State-Ohio State game specifically with defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to get an honest scout of his play.

"We definitely need to get over that hump, there's no question about it," Allar said in July. "... We definitely need to find different ways to come out with different results in those games. And I think for us, at least for me specifically, it's just about execution."

Allar had a rough execution stretch against Oregon, not all of which was his fault. He fought through the twin-bill of few open receivers and erratic protection through the first half, in which he completed just 6 of 12 passes for 45 yards.

Allar found himself in too many third-and-longs (the offense's average third-down distance was 6.9 yards) and he consequently went 3-for-8. For the season, Allar is 9-for-23 on third down. He doesn't throw into a vacuum but also has labored to make plays consistently.

"Drew's been as good as any quarterback in the country when it comes to touchdown-to-interception ratio over his time, but obviously that was a critical one," Penn State coach James Franklin said. "But early on, we were not able to get into a rhythm, ... and now we're in third-and-long after third-and-long after third-and-long."

Allar led Penn State's comeback from a 17-3 deficit, throwing a lovely 35-yard touchdown pass to Devonte Ross and straining to gain 31 rushing yards on Penn State's game-tying drive. And still, wasn't enough.

Allar and Penn State will wind up for all this again for Nov. 1, when they gets another shot at Ohio State in Allar's home state. Allar doesn't think his big-game opportunities are dwindling. But he also left Beaver Stadium on Saturday night feeling as though he let another get past him.

"I don't prepare all week to come out and lose the game," Allar said. "So obviously it hurts. We had our opportunities. I think that's kind of the unfortunately the bright side of it, as we had opportunities obviously at the end to come back and win the game, if we go down and score and make the two-point conversion. But that's the way it shakes out.

"It's a long season ahead of us. We're going to have more opportunities down the road to fix this. I'll be the first to go into the fire. There's no other coaching staff or team that I'd rather go to war with. And I know we're going to make the most of this opportunity and learn from it and grow from it."