Drew Allar is a winner. In two seasons as Penn State’s starting quarterback, he has guided the Nittany Lions to a 23-6 record (a .793 winning percentage), the Big Ten title game and two College Football Playoff victories. He’s thrown for over 6,300 yards and 53 touchdowns, and just 10 interceptions.
And he still has one very big season to go.
Allar drew voluminous praise on Wednesday from Penn State’s James Franklin, at the Big Ten Conference’s media days in the head coach’s appearance on the main stage of Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.
“Drew Allar, senior starting quarterback, third straight year as a starter, is on track to graduate this fall,” Franklin said. “Since 1956, he is one of two FBS quarterbacks with 800-plus completions, 50-plus touchdowns and 10 or less interceptions. Done a phenomenal job of protecting the football in terms of touchdown to interception ratio, and we expect that to continue this year.”
All(ar) that and more is why the quarterback was one of three Nittany Lions — along with veteran center Nick Dawkins and stellar safety Zakee Wheatley — hand-selected to represent Penn State with Franklin at the media days.
When Allar appeared in a media session with a horde of reporters on Wednesday, some of the questions had a Vegas feel to them. The misfortunes and pitfalls of fame. Losing on a final roll of the dice on the super-big stage of the College Football Playoff. A whole new fleet of out-of-town ringers…er, receivers…coming to the table. And what’s on the Drewing board for returning to the winner’s circle in 2025.
To be clear, Allar didn’t bring up these subjects. Reporters did. But it’s interesting to read how Allar — a legit Heisman Trophy candidate in 2025 and a near-certain first-round NFL Draft pick in 2026 — responded when some curveballs were thrown his way.
Hence, here are four downs with Allar from his presser. (You can watch the full Wednesday session with Allar on the “Penn State Football on Blue White Illustrated” YouTube channel here.)
WHAT ALLAR SAID
1. Hearing from trolls, gamblers and disgruntled fans. “Honestly, that was the one thing that caught me off-guard. I didn’t expect that part as a starting quarterback in college. I’ll go back home [to Ohio] and people will be like, ‘I bet $1,000 on you to win the Heisman.’ OK, why do I need to know that? I don’t necessarily need to know that. That kind of thing can bring out the interactions I’ve definitely had — some things I might question. I don’t know how people can do that to you.
“I’ve had people request money from me and all that sort of stuff. It’s not just me, they go after my family, my girlfriend, all my friends. They’ll go after them, which is kind of the weird part. It doesn’t necessarily make it to me. It’s definitely weird having those interactions. I try to handle it as best as I can and as gracefully as I can.”
2. His late fourth-quarter interception vs. Notre Dame in the CFP semifinals at the Orange Bowl, which the Fighting Irish parlayed into a game-winning field goal. “I definitely watched that play a handful of times. For me, the mistakes that I made in that game, the thing that was frustrating but good at the same time is all the mistakes that I did make were all easily correctable. It’s just about being intentional with those things and just being conscious of those things.
“Maybe I didn’t know throughout the season that I was doing some certain stuff. But now, in the offseason, it’s getting those little things down so when those moments or windows in games when those things do come — bad habits or things like that don’t show up in the most critical moments and cost us a win.”
3. Goals for 2025. “For us, the goal is to be in the Big Ten title [game] and obviously win it. Obviously, we came close to it last year and didn’t accomplish it. For us, it’s always about reflecting internally about what we can do well and what we can do better at.
“Going into fall camp, it’s all about us finding what we’re good at and maybe what our weaknesses are. And then attacking those things to make them strengths. If we can be the most well-rounded team in the country and also the most diverse team in the country in terms of personnel we can throw out on the field and the different types of plays we have out on the field…that’s what we want to accomplish in four weeks of camp.”
4. The addition via the transfer portal of receivers Devonte Ross (Troy), Kyron Hudson (USC) and Trebor Pena (Syracuse), who combined for nearly 2,500 yards, 198 receptions and 23 TDs at their previous schools last season. “They’ve been great for our room. The one thing about all of them is that they came and put their heads down and worked. They were not coming in entitled or anything. They earned everybody’s respect, from the players’ standpoint, from the offensive side of the ball and the defensive side of the ball, and the coaching staff.
“They’re unselfish and that sort of thing, in that way. So, I’m excited to play football again. I think we really got rolling on the back half of spring ball. I know I’ve said this, but: I’m excited to go into fall camp and play football.”
