Penn State QB Drew Allar helped off in 4th quarter: Latest injury update

Penn State football sought a response to Northwestern's touchdown in the fourth quarter that put the Nittany Lions down 22-21. Quarterback Drew Allar went down with less than four minutes left of the game, grabbing his lower left leg on the ground.

Allar just completed a nine-yard pass to running back Nicholas Singleton up the middle and was hoping to get the first down on the next play. On third-and-four, Allar went to scramble. Not only was he stopped after a gain of one yard, but he did not pop up from the field after the tackle.

Instead, Allar stayed down on the field, grabbing his lower leg and ankle in pain. The officials called an injury timeout for the third-year starter and the slew of Penn State coaches ran out onto the field, including head coach James Franklin. While Allar ultimately stood up, he had tears in his eyes, limped off the field, and was not seen again in the remaining few minutes of the game.

Backup quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer stepped into Allar's place on fourth-and-three cold off the bench. Instead of punting, Penn State opted to go for it with the second-string quarterback. Like Allar on the previous play, Grunkemeyer went to scramble up the middle and Northwestern's defense pulled off the fourth down stop and a turnover on downs.

Following the Wildcats offense's return to the field, it was announced on the FS1 broadcast that Allar headed into the locker room with his game closed for the evening. He was carted off with a left leg injury. The remainder of Allar's season is uncertain and it is possible that he logged his final snap of his collegiate career depending on the severity of his injury.

If that's the case, Grunkemeyer will have a task to try and rally a .500, unranked Penn State team in his first set of games as a starter.

That also means Allar completed his senior campaign in a short-lived manner, six games in. Following his Northwestern performance, he has a 65.3 completion percentage in 2025. He completed 103 passes of 159 attempts for 1,100 yards, eight touchdowns, and three interceptions. On the ground, he posted 36 carries for 172 yards and one touchdown.

On Saturday before his injury, Allar completed 13 of 20 attempts for 137 yards and a 65 completion percentage. He was picked off once in the end zone on Penn State's first drive of the game and also tallied a rushing touchdown, his first and final of the season.

Franklin revealed in his postgame press conference that Allar is officially ruled out for the season.

The Nittany Lions lost their third consecutive game, going 3-3 overall and 0-3 in the Big Ten.