Is Drew Allar the most important player in college football this season?
It seems unfair to place so much pressure on new starting quarterback Drew Allar, but the hype and rising expectations for him are unavoidable. With Penn State a week away from opening the 2023 college football season, Allar is being heralded as arguably the most important player in college football this season.
That seems like an overstatement, but that is exactly how Associated Press college football writer Ralph Russo described Allar.
“Allar has thrown only 60 passes in college and a week before the season opener No. 7 Penn State had still not officially been declared the winner of a quarterback competition with Beau Pribula,” Russo said in a recent AP profile of Allar. “Yet he just might be the most important player in college football this season.”
Allar is easily about to settle into as good a position as any quarterback could hope to for the 2023 season. Penn State is set to have its best offensive line in years, anchored by the return of Olu Fashanu, and the running game will look to take another step following brilliant freshman debuts by Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen.
Now it may be Allar’s turn to show what he can do as a strong asset to the Penn State offense.
Allar received a good amount of playing time as a true freshman as the primary backup to six-year senior Sean Clifford. Allar made his college debut in a season opening win at Purdue, relieving Clifford for a series, and he appeared in a number of good spots to help clean up games that were all but official for the entire season. That included a chance to close out the Rose Bowl, won by Penn State over Pac-12 champion Utah.
Allar is lacking in stats after his freshman season only because Clifford proved to be the right fit for the offense from start to finish last season. That didn’t stop some fans from calling for Allar to get more of a chance to play meaningful minutes, but he will get that this season.
Penn State scored a major recruiting victory with the addition of Allar, the first big recruiting commitment picked up by Penn State following the hiring of current offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich. Now, Allar and Yurcich will finally get a chance to truly work together to help give Penn State’s offense its best chance to succeed and make a push for a spot in the Big Ten championship game, and perhaps the College Football Playoff.
