Penn State QB Drew Allar slighted as 'not productive against anyone' and exposed by Oregon

Penn State QB Drew Allar slighted as 'not productive against anyone' and exposed by Oregon originally appeared on The Sporting News

A senior quarterback's role on a prominent football team is simple: be the rock for your team. Be the steadying and reliable presence for teammates to rally around, energy to flow through, and wins to stack upon, one after the other. For senior Drew Allar and the Penn State Nittany Lions, any hope that he can be that rock during this highly pivotal 2025 season may have flown out the window in a key loss to Oregon.

The Ducks, led by head coach Dan Lanning, are a tremendous football team. Anyone who tells you otherwise hasn't watched the team step onto the grass at any point this season. They have built their resume on making offenses look inept all season.

But for James Franklin's Penn State program -- a program desperately looking for a signature win -- losing to the Ducks again simply wasn't an option. With a team ranked in the top 3 nationally and an expectation of competing for the national championship game in January, Penn State would have to prove they could get it done against the country's very best in September, October, and November.

Even in a suffocating Happy Valley white-out game, Franklin and company fell short once again.

Quarterback Drew Allar took a significant brunt of the media blowback after the first loss of the season, getting slammed for his inefficiency and spotty playmaking throughout the season -- not just against one of the country's best teams.

In ESPN's recent power four quarterback rankings, Allar was cast to the bottom of the list -- 55th of all 68 signal callers.

"In one drive against Oregon, with Penn State down 14, Allar completed three passes for 56 yards and a beautiful touchdown lob. The rest of the game, he went 11-of-22 for 81 yards and a game-clinching pick. His big-game production is a known issue, but he hasn't really produced against anyone, throwing few deep balls and averaging 10.8 yards per completion."

The biggest concern with Allar is no longer the unknown factor of what he can become, it's the fear that now as a senior, he's already reached his peak. Far lower than the summit his team had hoped for.

This narrative can be turned around if Allar can bounce back against Ohio State and Indiana in November, but it starts with delivering on the field against the weaker UCLA, Northwestern, and Iowa slate first.

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