Penn State football starts off with a light three-week non-conference slate, facing Nevada, FIU, and Villanova before its first bye week in Week 4. Even though it's as preseason as college football can get for the No. 2 ranked team in the country, that doesn't mean the Nittany Lions won't impress.
Drew Allar is coming off a late interception in the College Football Playoff semifinals against Notre Dame and a lot of heat from the public. He had a 66.5 completion percentage with 262 passes for 3,327 yards in 2024. Just like many others on the Penn State roster, Allar dismissed the 2025 NFL Draft and opted to play his final collegiate season intending to finish what Penn State started last season.
Now Nevada won't be a challenge and it's not going to be "the test" that fans and the media are waiting for in order to appropriately assess the Nittany Lions.
That doesn't mean Allar can't make a spotlight for himself. It's the perfect situation for the senior to showcase the improvements he made in the offseason, especially against an easier opponent.
"One of the reasons I came back in because there was a lot of areas I wanted to improve on and I thought I needed to improve on," Allar said to Josh Pate. ". . . One of those being just consistent footwork . . . I wasn't very focused or intentional about it throughout the season last year and there [were] a couple times last year where it caused me to be in [non-optimal] situations throwing the ball and I would have to make up [for] it with my arm."
Head coach James Franklin commended all the strides his starting quarterback made after a frustrating ending to the 2024 season. From passing to leadership to connecting with wide receivers, it's all about Allar getting one percent better day-by-day.
"In terms of leadership, in terms of [Allar's] understanding of the offense, in terms of chemistry with the wide receivers. With all of it, he's taken steps," Franklin said to Pate. ". . . He's moving better, he's more athletic . . . There's times when we need him to be aggressive and push the ball down the field. We have to call that, call the game that way a little bit more, and we need him to do it."
Oregon will be the first test to see how Allar plays under pressure against a ranked opponent. That's what fans are waiting for, but don't let his non-conference performances go unnoticed.
If he takes the opportunity to do it, all the little things he worked on in preparation for the 2025 season will be front and center on Saturday. Before the stakes get higher, it'll be Allar's time to dominate and set the precedent for the rest of the season.