Grading Drew Allar’s gutsy performance in Penn State’s Week 7 comeback win over USC

Coming into the year, there were two games circled on Penn State’s schedule, a Week 10 Beaver Stadium visit from Ohio State and the Nittany Lion’s trip out west to play USC in LA. Well, head coach Lincoln Riley’s recent struggles took a bit of the luster away from this Week 7 matchup, but Penn State’s come-from-behind 33-30 overtime win is still its most impressive of the year. 

Allar played a huge part in the comeback, completing 30 of his career-high 43 passes for 391 yards and two touchdowns, and he did it largely without a run game, but with three interceptions, he was also helped dig the whole he climbed out of. Franklin and offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki asked their junior quarterback to win them this football game and on his game-tying fourth-quarter touchdown drive, he emphatically proved that he could. 

Penn State’s path to the 12-team College Football Playoff is clear after a 6-0 start, and after Allar’s performance, even though it was the first multi-interception game of his career, he’s the biggest reason to believe in the Nittany Lions as a real contender. 

Drew Allar’s Week 7 performance will ultimately be defined by his game-tying touchdown drive and two fourth-down conversions to Julian Fleming. However, I want to start at the beginning of the game, Allar’s first career game with multiple interceptions. 

In the past few weeks, Penn State, and Allar specifically have gotten off to slow and shaky starts. Allar is a much more accurate passer when he has a rhythm and seems to build confidence as the completions stack up. So, in the biggest game of the season so far, Kotelnicki got him started with some simple throws. Allar completed his first six passes of the game, all on Penn State’s first possession, a 14-play 72-yard field goal drive. Five of those passes went to tight end Tyler Warren and three were designed screens. 

Kotelnicki made sure to get Allar comfortable on the road. Allar didn’t attempt a pass over 10 yards downfield until under two minutes left in the first quarter, but the problem was that Kotelnicki fell too in love with the pass, on the first drive which stalled out inside the USC 10-yard line, and throughout the first half. After a stellar first drive, where everything came easy, Penn State managed just six first-half points, Allar threw an ugly interception, the Nittany Lions punted twice, and trailed 20-6. 

While his team trailed and his offense struggled, there can’t be too much blame assigned to Allar. His receivers, aside from Warren didn’t provide much help. Fleming dropped multiple passes in the game including one in the first half and Harrison Wallace III couldn’t hang onto a touchdown in the second quarter that may have been Allar’s best throw of the game. 

Allar’s first downfield attempt came on a third-and-3 when USC defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn brought a blitz. As the junior quarterback sidestepped to avoid the pressure, his throw skipped short of wide receiver Omari Evans. Allar has an excellent arm, but unlike many of the recent mutant QB prospects like Jayden Daniels or Caleb Williams, Allar doesn’t generate effortless horsepower from any arm angle. If Allar doesn't have his feet set, he’ll miss short, which means he has to be more careful against pressure and sharper with his footwork. 

On his 14 pressured dropbacks on Saturday, Allar was never sacked and went 7/13 for 113 yards and one of his threw picks. Allar did a nice job getting the ball out of his hands quickly against USC, especially when he had protection, and late in the game when the protection was less than ideal, he kept his feet calm, and his mechanics sharp on both fourth downs. Only one of his three interceptions, which matched his career interception total, came under pressure, so let’s dig into the turnovers now. 

The interceptions

Allar was prolific in Week 7, with the most pass attempts of his career and the most passing yards. However, there’s a reason that Kotelnicki doesn’t want to play that way on offense and an obvious reason he had to on Saturday. Allar still needs refinement as a processor, though it’s becoming a strength of his game. Against USC, defensive coordinator Tom Allen's defense couldn't get a stop, so Kotelnicki pulled out all of the gimmicks and still needed to lean on his true dropback passing game because Nick Singleton didn’t look 100% in the run game, which only produced 118 yards, and because Penn State was trailing nearly the entire way. 

Allar’s first interception came down 14-3 in the second quarter. USC showed a pressure look with seven defenders on the line of scrimmage, but only four of those seven came, while an additional rusher came from the second level. Allar thought he had Wallace isolated to his left, but a defensive end dropped right into his throwing lane, which forced Allar to read the backside where USC had coverage dropping underneath Clifford on a dig route. Allar had the check-down but didn't have the patience to get to it. After a big return, USC turned the pick into three points. 

Allar’s second interception came late in the third quarter after his stellar play had helped even the score at 20-20. The Penn State defense forced a punt, so the offense took over at its own 17-yard line. On the first play of the drive, Allar tried to force a ball into Khalil Dinkins with tight coverage over the middle of the field, it was tipped, picked, and allowed USC to go up 23-20 with a field goal.

USC didn’t do anything to disguise its zone coverage, but again Allar worked through his progression and forced a throw into tight coverage. This time left tackle Drew Shelton got beat and allowed a bit of pressure off Allar’s blindside, but there was plenty of time to step up into a clean pocket. Clearly, Allar wanted to get the ball out quickly, but there were a few occasions where he worked too quickly. 

His third pick, well, that one doesn’t exactly count. USC wide receiver Duce Robinson intercepted Allar’s Hail Mary attempt on the final play of regulation in a tie game. But for it to not matter, instead of sealing a win for the Trojans, Allar had to have a career-defining drive. 

Game-tying drive

Allar was excellent in the second half. He connected on so many impressive downfield throws, a few on wheel routes to Tyler Warren, and one to Omari Evans in the third quarter on a corner route to set up Kaytron Allen’s rushing touchdown. The junior’s best drive, however, was his final one because a younger quarterback, or one who would never live up to the hype as the No. 1 QB in the 2022 recruiting class would have faltered under the pressure and he didn’t. 

Penn State trailed 30-23 with 5:56 left when Allar led the Nittany Lions on a 12-play 75-yard touchdown drive. Quickly, he faced a fourth-and-7 from his own 44-yard line and Franklin trusted his quarterback. Allar delivered. 

Then, fourth-and-10. 

Allar delivered again. To have the touch needed to complete the first throw and then the athleticism to composure to pull off the second, that’s NFL quarterbacking in the toughest possible moment. Especially because on third-and-10, USC safety Kamari Ramsey nearly ripped an interception away from Liam Clifford. 

Then, after a nice scramble, Allar hit Singleton in the flat, and in his return from injury, Singleton ran in the game-tying score. Allar’s performance was far from perfect, but man was it gutsy. He’s always had the tools, that was never the question, but now he has the maturity you need to orchestrate a drive like that, which is the same maturity you need to beat Ohio State, and might be the same maturity you need to win a national championship. 

Penn State is still a half or even a full tier below the best teams in the country and the Big Ten, but if Allar continues to ascend, then that levels the playing field heading into the College Football Playoff. James Franklin still needs to lead this team there, but with this version of Drew Allar, if he does, then the Nittany Lions will have a shot against anybody.