As the six-seed in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff, Penn State is one of the favorites to win the 2024 national championship. While this season’s postseason run is the team’s focus, James Franklin’s program got excellent news on Monday morning that will keep the national title window open into next season.
A day after backup quarterback Beau Pribula announced that he was departing the team and entering his name in the transfer portal, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that junior starting quarterback Drew Allar will be returning to Penn State for his senior season in 2025. The former five-star recruit, who threw for 2,894 yards and 21 touchdowns in his second year as the program’s starter, will enter next season as a Heisman Trophy favorite and a projected first-round NFL draft pick, regardless of how this season ends.
Even with two interceptions in a loss, Allar had one of the best performances of his career against Oregon in the Big Ten Championship Game. He went toe-to-toe with Dillon Gabriel, college football’s all-time leading passer and a Heisman Trophy finalist, and nearly came out on top. This news comes, not just on the heels of Pribula’s departure, but of offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki’s announcement that he would be returning to Happy Valley for Year 2 and not taking a head coaching position.
James Franklin has stated that his program would take an aggressive approach to the transfer portal this offseason, but no player he could have added in the open market would be as impactful as another season of one of the best quarterbacks in the entire country. Still, this decision only amplifies the pressure on Franklin to add talent, especially at wide receiver.
Allar’s keeping his play-caller, but they're losing their favorite weapon, tight end Tyler Warren. Warren finished top 10 in Heisman Trophy voting, the first tight end to do so since Notre Dame's Ken MacAfee finished third in 1977, and finished the season with a team-high 88 catches for 1,062 yards and six touchdowns. Allar’s leading wide receiver was Harrison Wallace III, who only caught 39 passes for 638 yards and four scores.
He will enter 2025 with a championship-caliber quarterback, but it’s up to Franklin to build a dynamic offense around him, a task that just became easier with this announcement. Transfer portal wide receivers, like many of the talented players who have left Penn State off their list of finalists, will certainly turn their attention to Happy Valley because a great quarterback is the best recipe for a great season and a great starting salary in the NFL as an early-round draft pick.
Penn State just became the most desirable destination for a portal wide receiver, so if Franklin fails to land multiple talented offensive weapons, he’ll be failing his quarterback. Allar just cracked open the championship window in 2025, and his head coach is the only one who can slam it shut.