Penn State offense aims to take next step behind QB Drew Allar

Few casual college football fans glancing at Penn State quarterback Drew Allar’s statistics from last year could conclude anything other than he had a stellar season.

Allar threw 25 touchdowns and only two interceptions, completing 59.9% of his passes for 2,631 yards in his first year as a starter.

Yet, from the vantage point of Nittany Lions diehards, Allar had his shortcomings, particularly in critical losses against Big Ten rivals Ohio State and Michigan that led to a third-place finish in the conference.

Allar went a combined 28 of 64 (43.8%) with only two touchdowns, as the Nittany Lions were held to 12 and 15 respective points in defeats that defined their season.

Those losses didn’t fall solely on Allar’s shoulders.

Still, Penn State, which earned a No. 8 national preseason ranking, needs the 6-foot-5 junior to take the next step in running first-year coordinator Andy Kotelnicki’s offense.

“Offensively, we talk about the three most important stats in the offensive football games: the turnover battle, explosive play battle and then scoring and red-zone conversion rate,” Allar said.

“Those are the three most important stats that we can be good at. Obviously, we did a good job at taking care of the ball last year, but the explosive plays weren’t where we wanted them to be as an offense.”

Another recurring theme for the Nittany Lions this offseason has been getting the ball in the hands of their most talented players.

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Looking at Penn State’s projected starting offense, Allar has no shortage of teammates capable of producing big gains.

The Nittany Lions return their dynamic tailback duo from last year in Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, who rushed for a combined 1,654 yards while splitting handoff duties nearly evenly (172 carries for Allen, 171 for Singleton).

Ohio State transfer Julian Fleming leads a wide receivers room with several players looking to step up, such as Harrison Wallace and Liam Clifford. At tight end, Tyler Warren returns after a 34-catch, 422-yard junior year.

“I think we’ve done a better job at being intentional of trying to be more explosive as an offense in both the run and pass game,” Allar said. “Not every explosive play is going to be the 50-yard ball down the field. It’s me being accurate on a flat route to Nick (Singleton) and Kaytron (Allen), allowing them to turn up field and get 15 yards.

“(It’s) us being accurate on bubble passes, the receivers blocking on the perimeter — there’s a lot more things that go into explosive plays than just chucking the ball downfield. … We’ve got to do everything in our power to earn the right to throw the ball downfield.”

This year, defending national champion Michigan is not on Penn State’s schedule, but on Nov. 2, the Nittany Lions host No. 2-ranked Ohio State for what’s sure to be a heated battle between College Football Playoff hopefuls.

Granted, the CFP’s expansion to 12 teams this year takes some pressure off Penn State to win that game, which in the past has been a do-or-die affair with regards to cracking the four-team field, a consistent bridge too far in the James Franklin era.

Penn State also plays three former Pac-12 teams entering their first year in the Big Ten, starting with UCLA at home Oct. 5, at No. 23 Southern Cal on Oct. 12 and vs. Washington on Nov. 9.

But before all that, the Nittany Lions travel to Morgantown for their Aug. 31 season opener against West Virginia.

Last year, Penn State beat the visiting Mountaineers, 38-15, a game in which Allar was 21 of 29 for 325 yards and three touchdowns.

With an experienced team that went 9-4 last year and won the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, coach Neal Brown’s squad will be aiming for a reversed result against the Nittany Lions from 2023, this time on home turf.

Official game-week preparation for both teams is just around the corner.

As kickoff in Morgantown nears, what Franklin has seen from Allar, named one of Penn State’s six captains for 2024, inspires confidence that the 20-year-old is primed and ready to make a big leap this fall.

“He’s really done everything right,” Franklin told reporters in State College last week. “He’s always been a really good preparation guy in terms of being in the building, studying the installs, watching a ton of tape, asking great questions.

“When you keep punching the clock and keep doing the right things, you get better and you gain confidence, you gain experience, the game starts to slow down for you. … So, it’s just kind of total development in every area.”