2023 Penn State football snapshot profile: No. 15 Drew Allar
Going into the 2023 football season, Nittany Lions Wire will be looking at each scholarship player listed on the Penn State roster. Over the preseason, each profile will cover where the player is from, how recruiting websites rated them coming out of high school, and what role they will play for James Franklin this season.
Now it is time to take a close look at this year’s starting quarterback, Drew Allar. After spending his freshman season on campus backing up the six-year veteran Sean Clifford, Allar’s time to shine has truly arrived for Penn State. After coming in as such a highly-celebrated recruit out of Ohio, the expectations are as high as they have been for a Penn State quarterback in quite some time.
It may be unfair to place so much pressure on Allar’s shoulders as he takes on the role of starting quarterback, but he is also a big reason for some of the optimism about Penn State’s chances for success this season. With a number of other pieces in place around him, Allar will be looked upon to guide the offense to a productive season that helps keep Penn State in the Big Ten title conversation, and possibly a bigger conversation down the line as well.
Preseason Player Profile
Hometown: Medina, OH
Height: 6-5
Weight: 242
247Sports Composite Ranking
[5-stars] | [No. 1 in Ohio] | [No. 1 overall quarterback]
Class of 2022
Class in 2023: Sophomore
Let’s not mince words here by saying that Penn State landing a commitment from Drew Allar was a big deal. To be able to convince the nation’s top-rated quarterback out of Ohio, where the Buckeyes rule the roost, to come to play for Penn State may be the biggest recruiting victory in the career of James Franklin.
Allar was the top-rated passer according to 247Sports and the no. 3 player overall in the nation. Naturally, he was wanted by practically every major program in the land, including Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Tennessee, and more. Things could have been different had Notre Dame extended an offer earlier in the process. But Penn State got an offer to Allar in January 2021 and just two months later had the commitment from their coveted quarterback. A few unofficial and official visits later helped Allar stay firm with his decision despite an offer from Ohio State coming his way in September 2021.
Allar was named Mr. Football for the state of Ohio in his senior season and he enrolled early in the program to get started working with the team in the spring of 2022. That allowed Allar to get on track to take on the top backup role behind Sean Clifford, who is coincidentally also from Ohio, in the fall of 2022.
Career Stats
Games | Completions | Attempts | Yards | TD | INT | |
2022 | 10 | 35 | 60 | 344 | 4 | 0 |
While some may have preferred Penn State turn the offense directly over to Drew Allar right from the start, head coach James Franklin and offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich decided to keep Sean Clifford as their starter until pressed to make a change. But Clifford was solid all year long in leading Penn State to a 10-2 regular season and going on to earn offensive MVP honors in Penn State’s Rose Bowl victory. So, instead, Penn State found the best opportunities to put Drew Allar on the field in a backup role when games were essentially decided and Clifford could be given an early rest. Fortunately, there were a number of those opportunities to get Allar some real game experience, even if mostly in mop-up duty.
Allar tossed his first career touchdown in his second career game, a home game against Ohio when he tossed two in relief of Clifford. He also got some road game experience in a blowout win at Auburn and a lopsided loss at Michigan. Allar did get a chance to step on the field for the Rose Bowl win, although his only pass attempt fell incomplete in relief of Clifford.
Allar also had 18 rushing attempts for 52 yards and a touchdown in his freshman season.
Depth Chart Overview
Although James Franklin has been reluctant in the spring to suggest this is a certainty, everyone following Penn State football knows the situation at quarterback going into the fall; Drew Allar will be the starter. Franklin has suggested there will be competition for the job with Beau Pribula, but that is simply coachspeak and nothing else. Allar was recruited to be the next guy after Clifford and there is nothing that will be standing in the way of that when the 2023 season begins.
What remains to be seen is just how much Franklin and Yurcich stick to trying to get backup Pribula involved in the offense in addition to having Allar as the main quarterback. Franklin suggested there were some ways they could use Pribula that they wouldn’t be able to pull off with Allar given their different skills, but Allar will unquestionably be the conductor of the offense this season.
Allar will have a great cast around him with what may be one of Penn State’s best offensive lines of the Franklin era and a running back tandem considered one of the best in the nation with Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen fueling the ground game. Allar just needs to get in sync with his receivers, which is perhaps the biggest question on offense going into 2023 after losing its top two wide receivers and top tight end to the NFL this year.
