LOS ANGELES — Drew Allar couldn’t help but shed some tears postgame. He gave it his all in Penn State’s 33-30 overtime victory at USC on Saturday. And he knew that he’d have to in order to keep up with one of the nation’s most relentless and explosive offenses. It was a rollercoaster for Allar, who experienced highs and lows throughout the game, but stayed steady until the final whistle.
Allar completed 30-of-43 pass attempts for 391 yards and two touchdowns. But his career-high three interceptions likely would’ve generated more buzz had the Nittany Lions not pulled out the win. They did, though, and Allar’s buoyancy through adversity is what ultimately kept James Franklin’s offense in gear.
“I think the word resilient was probably the best word to define our team today,” Franklin said.
Allar saved his emotions for after the game. He never let a mistake weigh him down, even his ugliest, like a second-quarter interception thrown into tight coverage when he had tight end Tyler Warren open in the flat. Allar’s game has reached new heights under offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, but it’s his mentality that’s appeared to make the most difference.
“Coach K, Coach Franklin, never lost faith in me and allowed me to keep playing. We always talk about it in the quarterback room: just keep shooting. Keep shooting, no matter what,” Allar said. “Some things aren’t going to go your way, but it’s just how you bounce back from them. And I think as an overall offense we did a great job of bouncing back in the second half.”
And it wasn’t just Allar, but the entire offense. Penn State entered the second half without a touchdown, but made adjustments and scored quickly on its first possession out of the break. Then came another on the team’s next drive. The Nittany Lions never stopped chipping away at a two-score deficit until, ultimately, they came out with the win.
The run game never got going the way Franklin said he “had hoped.” But that didn’t define the offensive output. In its place was a consistent passing attack led by Allar, tight end Tyler Warren and various wide receivers. It’s not just Allar that’s improved since last year, but the entire system and the players within it.
“I get it. At Penn State, we got really, really high expectations, and (Allar’s) just got better. And he’s got better in really every single area,” Franklin said. “And one of the big reasons he’s gotten better, though, is guys are making plays for him. The wide receivers are making plays this year in a way they didn’t last year. The tight ends are as well.”
Take wide receiver Julian Fleming for example. He began his day with an offensive pass interference penalty that, although questionable, wiped a touchdown off the board on Penn State’s drive. Then he had a ball slip through his hands and later a drop. But he rebounded, and caught two massive fourth-down passes that kept the team alive in the fourth quarter.
“The first one was a big confidence boost,” Fleming said. “Obviously, having the drop earlier in the game really kind of sat in my head and I really had to flush that.”
It’s the ability to flush out mistakes and move on to the next play that has proved so monumental in the development of Allar and the Nittany Lions’ offense. But there’s a challenge that soon lies ahead. There’s no room for mistakes like the ones Penn State made on Saturday when it plays against Ohio State on Nov. 2 and the College Football Playoff games that could follow it.
The spotlight remains on Allar, not just to flush out his shortcomings, but to turn the Nittany Lions into a consistent force that can keep up with any team in the country.
“It’s good to be able to go in and say, ‘Guys, we’re a second half team.’ But I’d prefer not to say that anymore,” Franklin said. “I’d prefer to be a four-quarter team, a start-fast, fourth-quarter team, all of it, and we’re going to have to be to continue to win the games that we want to win moving forward.”
