STATE COLLEGE — Standing on the doorstep of his junior season — his second as Penn State’s starting quarterback — Drew Allar feels more comfortable in his own skin.
Admittedly, Allar declares himself a more introverted, lead-by-example type of player. This offseason, Allar challenged himself to be better in all facets, but most importantly, as a leader.
“That was something I really wanted to take a step forward in,” Allar said. “Coming out of spring, during some of the exit interviews I had, I felt like I was starting to make progress in that, but not as much as I really wanted to. The summer is a great opportunity, because none of the coaches are around. Organizing everything with Coach (Chuck) Losey, getting on the same page with him on when we can do stuff when we can’t do stuff, how much we should be doing, and that was really good experience for me this year. I think that really just helped me going into fall camp, just asserting myself a little bit more and honestly, just being myself.
“I’m more vocal now than I was before. I’m not going to tell everybody what to do, but I’m going to make sure I’m holding myself to that high standard as well.”
His work to become a better leader hasn’t gone unnoticed, as he has earned the respect of not only his teammates but the Penn State coaching staff.
That respect led to Allar being elected a team captain Aug. 17, joining center Nick Dawkins, linebacker Dom DeLuca, safety KJ Winston and punter Riley Thompson. Dawkins said of Allar, “His confidence and his maturity is the easiest thing to point out.”
“It’s definitely an honor,” Allar said of becoming a team captain. “It’s something that I really work for, and not only to me, but the rest of the captains feel that way. It’s a great group to be a part of, and now it’s our job as captains of the team to get everybody in line, whether it’s telling the coaches how the players are feeling, what we think we can do better as a team, or making sure all the players are on the same page as the coaching staff.
“We have to make sure that we’re not letting anything slip, especially in the season. Crashes happen because of a bunch of little things adding up into one big thing, so we’ve got to make sure we’re on top of all the little details away from the field and on the field during practice so those things don’t catch up to us on game days.”
The task at hand for Allar this season is trying to push Penn State into title contention. Last season, Allar put up sparkling surface numbers — throwing for 2,631 yards with 25 touchdowns and only two interceptions. While the Nittany Lions went 10-3 last year, Allar performed his worst in those three losses as the offense looked disjointed and struggled to make things happen against Ohio State, Michigan and Ole Miss.
Allar’s junior season begins somewhat similar to his sophomore season. He once again faces Big 12 rival West Virginia, but this time, in Morgantown on Saturday.
“Going into last year, I had a little bit of experience, nothing like starting a full season,” Allar said. “That experience is immeasurable, in my opinion, because I’ve been through a lot of things last year and really throughout spring and fall camp, and I think I’ve done a great job of learning from it — what I did good, what I didn’t do so good, and how to improve upon it. I’m playing more comfortable now than I ever have been, just with Coach K (offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnick) and Danny (QB coach Danny O’Brien). I think we’re really in a good spot as an offense right now.”
The improvement of the wide receiver room should go a long way to determining the Nittany Lions’ offensive ceiling this season.
Ohio State transfer Julian Fleming is healthy and looking to finish his college career on a high note, while redshirt juniors Trey Wallace and Liam Clifford have drawn praise from coach James Franklin and Allar for separating themselves from the pack with their playmaking in the preseason.
“Liam’s just been very consistent,” Allar said. “It’s been just how consistent he’s been and how he’s prepared for practices and installs. He plays every position, out on the field for us. He’s fast, he’s bigger and stronger, and he looks really good. He’s super twitchy, and I don’t think he gets enough credit for that. He’s making a lot of tough catches. Obviously, we’re going against one of the best secondaries in the country every day out there in practice, so they’re making it tough on not only me but the receivers to come down and make those contested catches. I’ve seen a lot of growth, not only from Liam, but the whole receiving corps in that aspect.”
Another luxury for Allar and the Penn State offense is the dynamic running back tandem of Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen.
Though the duo saw some regression statistically last season as teams began to load the box and force other players to beat them, Singleton and Allen still had great seasons. Singleton rushed for 702 yards and eight touchdowns while Allen led the team in rushing yards with 851 and scored six touchdowns on 5.3 yards per carry.
In the passing game, Singleton more than doubled his receptions from 11 his freshman year to 26 last season as he racked up 222 receiving yards with one touchdown while Allen, who caught 20 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown as a freshman, caught 14 for 81 yards and a score.
“They’re two of the best players, not only on our team but around the country,” Allar said. “They’re super special players and individuals away from the field, and they’re going to play a huge role, just because of how much they can really do. We’re putting them in good positions for them to have one-on-one matchups and make plays in space. When we can get those guys in space, that’s going to be a good thing for us, just because of how explosive they are as athletes. They’re going to play a huge role.”