by When Drew Allar checked into the game early into the third quarter, Fox Play by Play man Gus Johnsons voice instantly lit up. He felt the same energy that High School Football fans felt every time they watched Allar play for the Medina Bees the past two falls. Johnson instantly hyped Allar and the reputation he brought in as being the top recruiting quarterback in the nation.
Allar threw for 4,444 yards his senior season and 48 touchdowns. He has the mobility of a running quarterback and the arm of Josh Allen. He is hard to bring down, and will make the tough throws after he buys time. If you give him time in the pocket, he is going to find his man every time without fail.
The fact is, Allar is more than hype, he is the real deal. He has the arm, the body, the mental intuition and most of all, the “kid” is a born leader. It may not be the easiest decision for Penn State Head Coach James Franklin to make, but it should be the clear one, Allar should be the starting quarterback of the Nittany Lions moving forward.
Tonight, in a brief glimpse, he went 2 of 4 passing for yards, but his mere presence on the field was more than that. One of the passes was right on the money as he split two defenders, but his target simply dropped a ball placed directly into his hands. The other miss should have been caught too. The announcers bailed out the wideout and blamed it on Allar for not taking off with it, but it was clear, the pass was catchable.
All that being said, he never panicked and maneuvered well in the pocket. Those are things that normal starting quarterback Sean Clifford simply doesn’t do. Clifford is starting his fourth year at the helm of the Nittany Line attack. The fact of the matter is this, in his three years as starting quarterback, they have not won or contended for a Big 10 Championship.
Furthermore, Clifford may have went 20 for 37 with 4 touchdowns but also nearly a fatal pick six late. Quite frankly a lot of the balls were great plays made by the wideouts on poorly thrown balls or simple routes a few yards down the field. A great example of that was Clifford’s touchdown pass to KeAndre Lambert that was all of 2 yards and then the receiver made a great spin move followed by broken tackles as he took it 29 yards into the endzone.
Clifford didn’t handle the coverage and the light pressure well all night. Furthermore, Franklin already knows what he has in Clifford, good, serviceable but not ready to win you any championships. If you’re going to base everything on his last drive, then you weren’t watching the rest of the game.
If you’re Franklin, you have one of the most exciting quarterbacks in the future of college football standing a few feet from you on the sidelines, it’s time to play “the kid” coach, and find out quickly he is not a kid but an honorable young man ready to help you compete for not only a BIG 10 Championship, but a National Championship as well.
