Grading Drew Allar’s performance in Penn State’s Week 4 win over Kent State

Penn State had a bye in Week 3, but in Week 4, they had something even better, a home game against Kent State. If James Franklin’s Nittany Lions had a bad taste lingering after a 34-27 win over Bowling Green, the Golden Flashes served as excellent mouth wash. 

Penn State rolled 56-0 with a dominant offensive performance, the best in program history and junior quarterback Drew Allar had his third straight great game in new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki’s system. Last season, Penn State’s offense was the team’s biggest weakness through Big Ten play, in 2024, there isn’t much reason for concern on that side of the ball, especially with Allar playing this well. 

Penn State’s first drive ended with an interception just on the cusp of the red zone, only it wasn’t with Allar at quarterback. Beau Pribula came into the game to throw a screen pass that Kent State’s Kameron Olds read all the way. Then, Allar led the Nittany Lions to the end zone on five of their next six drive, capping off the first drive of the second half with a 59-yard bomb to Omari Evans. 

This season, an Allar dropback has been incredibly valuable, averaging 11.56 yards, the third most in the country behind Ole Miss’s Jaxson Dart and Miami (FL)’s Cam Ward. Against Kent State he was even more efficient, averaging 13.95 yards per dropback and generating 0.82 expected points added (EPA) per dropback. 

More than just his accuracy as a passer, completing 17 of his 21 attempts in Week 4, Allar made plays with his legs, a skill that was lacking a season ago when Penn State’s offense was stuck in second gear. Allar ran for 28 yards and a touchdown on four carries with a 100% success rate on his carries, but more crucially he created outside of the structure of the offense, extending plays and keeping his eyes downfield. 

It won’t be this easy to move the ball every week, but Allar did exactly what he was supposed to against Kent State and deserves an easy A+ for his two-plus quarters of work.