‘I was astounded’: Penn State teammates impressed with Drew Allar’s development

Already holding an insurmountable lead, it didn’t really affect the outcome of the game. But the play of the day during Penn State’s win at Indiana last month was Drew Allar’s bullet to Harrison Wallace III. Allar rolled right and, instead of waltzing into the end zone himself from a few yards, he ripped a tight-window throw to Wallace for a score that showed off his arm and left many shaking their heads in disbelief.

Juice Scruggs brought up that pass at Friday’s Rose Bowl media day. The Penn State center was asked if he could recall an Allar moment from practice this year that stuck out to him. Scruggs said he saw the five-star freshman make the Indiana throw at the Lasch Building weeks before it happened in Bloomington.

“I looked around after, and nobody was making a big deal about it,” Scruggs said. During second-team reps, the first-team center stands behind the play with Sean Clifford, Beau Pribula and the quarterbacks. “I was like, ‘Was that not a good throw?’ Beau’s like, ‘That was pretty good.’ I was like, ‘He’s got it.’ I was astounded.”

Allar will have more of those moments in his future.

In the short term, it doesn’t sound like Penn State will treat the Rose Bowl any differently than the regular season from a preparation standpoint. Clifford is the starter, and he’ll get the bulk of first-team reps in practice. But with the Rose Bowl being Clifford’s last game, one era will end and another will begin in Pasadena.

Allar is expected to start for Penn State next fall, and he’s shown signs that he’ll be ready for the limelight. The Ohio native played in all but three games this year, logging 143 snaps, per Pro Football Focus. He completed 35 of 59 passes for 344 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions, and he looked at ease doing it.

Allar stepped in during the season opener at Purdue when Clifford went out briefly and managed the situation. He threw a pair of touchdowns against Ohio in Week 2 and led a field-goal drive at Auburn seven days later. In Bloomington, he added two more touchdowns to his tally, the first being the bullet to Wallace.

But touchdowns and surface-level stats aside, Allar has impressed his teammates with how he’s handled himself Sunday through Friday — on the practice field, in the huddle and around the Lasch Building.

“It’s all about his poise,” said graduate transfer wide receiver Mitchell Tinsley. “He has poise when it comes to reads, when it comes to pocket presence. And then it’s about moving on after a failure or a mistake.”

Tight end Brenton Strange elaborated.

“The biggest difference between a first-year player and a vet is, if they make a mistake, are they willing to correct it? Will it never happen again? Drew has done that throughout spring ball all the way throughout the games and where we are now in the season,” Strange said. “How he’s approached it, he’s being a veteran. His knowledge and IQ has grown so much, and I think that he has a great future.”

Allar has found his voice, too, as his first year has progressed. When he enrolled and first suited up in spring camp, he was more reserved. But Scruggs said as the season went on, he got louder and louder.

“One time at practice, I didn’t even realize that Sean wasn’t in, and he was behind me,” Scruggs said. “I don’t look behind me in practice. So when that happened and I realized it was him, I was like, ‘OK, he’s ready.’ ”

That realization came in the days leading up to the road game at Rutgers, Penn State’s penultimate tilt of the regular season in which Allar completed 5 of 10 passes for 42 yards and added a 19-yard run and a rushing touchdown. The following week was Senior Day, which belonged to Clifford. The Rose Bowl will be his, too.

But soon enough, Allar will have his chance to make his mark.

“You can see that he’s comfortable. The more and more reps he gets, the more comfortable he gets,” Scruggs said. “I’m excited to see what he does next year.”