An Emotional Drew Allar Challenges Himself After Loss to Ohio State
COLUMBUS, Ohio | James Franklin has been here before. Here specifically, at Ohio Stadium, where he fell to 0-5 as Penn State's head coach following a 20-12 loss to Ohio State. Franklin went on autopilot after his ninth loss to the Buckeyes in 10 games, distilling the game to third-down lapses (the Lions were 1-for-16) and Ohio State's oppressive defense.
Franklin wanted no part of a question regarding whether his 1-9 record against Ohio State is some sort of "referendum."
"I think it’s a fair question," Franklin said. "I get the question, but right now I’m worried about this game."
And, perhaps, his quarterback. Sophomore Drew Allar, who followed Franklin to the podium after his first loss as Penn State's starter, didn't have the context of history. He had only the bitter sting of this game, his team's offensive struggles and a personal game he graded harshly.
"Sucked," Allar said tersely about his play. Asked why he said that, the 19-year-old quarterback said, "Because I did."
Allar took this hard. He had not lost a game as a starting quarterback since 2021, when St. Edward eliminated Medina 41-6 in the Ohio state playoffs. Allar finished his senior season with a 13-1 record. He has not been that emotional on a football since.
After the game, Allar fought off tears talking about the game, specifically about feeling as though he had let down his teammates. Allar became particularly emotional after mentioning tight end Theo Johnson and left tackle Olu Fashanu, among the many veterans who will leave Penn State without beating Ohio State.
"We’ve been grinding since last January, and it sucks that we couldn’t pull through for some of the older guys in our program," Allar said. "I mean, two that come to mind for me on the offensive side of the ball are Olu and Theo. Great teammates, great players, and it sucks that we couldn’t get this done for them."
Though losing to Ohio State is well-worn territory for Penn State historically — the Buckeyes have won seven straight and lead the Big Ten series 23-8 — it was new and raw and harsh for the first-year starting quarterback. Ohio State squeezed Allar into a difficult box from which he couldn't escape. Allar went 10-for-30 for 118 yards before leading a touchdown drive in the final minute against a defense playing soft, end-the-game coverage. In that stretch he did not complete more than two consecutive passes. During one second-half stretch, Allar threw eight straight incompletions. He finished the game 18-for-42.
Perhaps it didn't help that offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich took the ball from Allar's hands at some critical points. Yurcich called several receiver option throws with KeAndre Lambert-Smith, who could not get off one attempt. After the Lions recovered a muffed punt, a third-quarter gift from the Big Ten football gods, Yurcich went back Lambert-Smith on the option pass.
Franklin said that Penn State wanted to take a swing in that moment. But tight end Tyler Warren, the apparent intended receiver, was covered about 15 yards downfield. Lambert-Smith went out of bounds for a 2-yard loss.
"We called a trick play to get a chance to get a huge momentum play. They covered it, it wasn’t there," Franklin said. "When you call trick plays and they work, it’s a good call. When call a trick play and it doesn’t work and they got it covered, then obviously it’s good on their part."
Allar was convinced that Penn State brought a winning offensive gameplan to Ohio State. The Buckeye brought some pressures the Lions hadn't seen, coverages that negated their shots downfield and safeties who worked sideline to sideline to limit his looks at open receivers. But he still felt like Yurcich's call sheet included enough plays to win.
"At the end of the day, coach Yurcich had us in some really nice play calls and some that we’re going to want back as players because we didn’t go out and execute like we were supposed to," Allar said. "Coach Yurcich did a great job of dialing up some of the shots that we had this week for our gameplan, but at the end of the day we as players didn’t go out and execute. So we have to figure out why we didn’t execute and then just learn from it."
Before the game last week, Allar described building his relationship with Fashanu by playing video games during their free time at the Rose Bowl. Fashanu recalled those moments fondly as well and turned the message inward for Allar on Saturday.
"That's the type of guy you want leading the offense," Fashanu said. "For Drew to say something like that, it just shows how much of a leader he is at the young age he's at."
Before leaving his post-game media session, Allar grew emotional once more. Earlier he said the team had to "wash it, learn from it, because if we don't learn from it, we're just fooling ourselves." He said that in a strong, clear voice. But working through real-time adversity has its limits, and Allar let his emotions spill forth.
"We talk about everything as blessings and lessons in life," Allar said through tears. "Obviously we lost the game, but this is a lesson for us, and we have to learn from it, because I never want to feel like this again."
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