Drew Allar
We have an Ohio QB starting for PSU and a Philly QB starting for OSU. Recruiting....
Gonna be a battle. I like PSU because of Manny Diaz. He has so many weapons. They've hurt some QB's lately.
Posted on 10/17/2023 2:12:11 PM PDT by FLNittany
By Rich Scarcella | rscarcella@readingeagle.com | Reading Eagle
PUBLISHED: October 17, 2023 at 4:23 p.m. | UPDATED: October 17, 2023 at 4:23 p.m.
Olu Fashanu didn’t really know Drew Allar that well until Penn State’s Rose Bowl trip almost a year ago.
Neither one was interested in touring the Los Angeles area, so they wound up staying in the team hotel and spending a lot of free time in the players’ media room squaring off in the FIFA video game for hours.
Fashanu, the Nittany Lions’ outstanding offensive tackle, played as the Netherlands and Allar as France.
“The most important thing I learned from all the time I spent with Drew is that guy is a competitor,” Fashanu recalled Tuesday. “He hates to lose. That’s someone you want leading your offense. He’s a guy that’s willing to do anything to will his team to victory.”
With Allar in his first year as the starting quarterback, Penn State (3-0, 6-0) is unbeaten and ranked seventh in the nation as it prepares to play at No. 3 Ohio State (3-0, 6-0) Saturday at noon (TV-FOX).
He’ll be playing against the home-state Buckeyes for the first time, about 115 miles from his home in Medina in northeastern Ohio.
“It’s just a great opportunity to go back home,” Allar said Tuesday. “Obviously we’re going to be facing a top team in the country on both sides of the football. It’s going to be a great challenge for us. We look forward to that challenge and opportunity we have.
“I grew up going to Ohio State games, like a lot of students in Ohio.”
So how did Allar, the No. 1 quarterback in the 2022 recruiting class, wind up playing for the Lions and not for the Buckeyes?
He was a tight end, linebacker and backup quarterback in eighth grade. He didn’t start on the Medina High School varsity until late in his sophomore season (2019) a few weeks before he threw for 354 yards and four TDs in a playoff loss to Ohio power St. Edward.
Brad Maendler, who trains quarterbacks in Ohio, saw the highlight film from that game, reached out and began working with Allar, then considered a Mid-American Conference prospect. Over the next several months and during the height of the pandemic, Allar made his greatest improvement.
“He worked his rear end off,” Maendler said. “A lot of kids sat around and didn’t do a whole lot. He really worked during that time. I could really see it in the videos he sent me. When we got back outside in April, I thought, ‘Wow, this is a different kid.’
“I’ve been doing this for 15 years and I’ve never seen anything come together like that. It was so much fun.”
In 2020, Allar led Medina to a playoff win over St. Edward before finishing that season with 2,962 yards and 26 TD passes. Not long after that, Cleveland-area native Mike Yurcich, then the offensive coordinator at Texas, was the first Power Five coach to show interest.
“Look, I really like him,” Yurcich said, according to Maendler. “I love him. I see a future first-round draft pick.”
Less than two months later, Yurich was hired as Penn State offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Not coincidentally, the Lions became the first high-profile program to make a scholarship offer to Allar, who committed a few months later.
“Before Coach Yurcich was here, I really wasn’t in contact with Penn State that much,” Allar said. “When he got here, that’s when everything started happening with me and Penn State. Our relationship continues to grow on a daily basis.”
As a senior, Allar passed for 4,444 yards and 48 touchdowns and watched his recruiting stock rise. In less than two years, he went from a three-star prospect to a five-star.
“I’ve never seen a transformation like it,” Franklin said. “To be honest, I didn’t even really believe in it. …I mean his transformation was crazy. He just kept getting better.
“Sometimes you get quarterbacks who are sequential thinkers and some who are spatial thinkers like a point guard. The good ones do both. He has the ability to do both. Like with most things, it’s not one thing. It’s Drew’s work ethic and drive to be good.”
Allar spent last year as Sean Clifford’s backup, tossing four touchdown passes in 10 games as a freshman. Through six games this year, he’s completed 65.2% of his passes for 1,254 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Remarkably, he has yet to throw an interception or lose a fumble in his 16-game college career.
“He’s doing a really good job of keeping the main thing the main thing,” Franklin said, “which is protecting the football, trying to create explosive plays when they’re there but not forcing them and managing the game.
“I’m very pleased with him. He’s just been steady. He’s humble and hungry.”
Even Maendler marvels at Allar’s command and his maturity.
“He’s taking what the defense is giving him,” Maendler said. “When you see him pre-snap, nothing fazes him. They’ve done such a good job of preparing him.
“I think he’s exactly what you want out of your first-year starting quarterback. He’s right where he should be.”
We have an Ohio QB starting for PSU and a Philly QB starting for OSU. Recruiting....
Gonna be a battle. I like PSU because of Manny Diaz. He has so many weapons. They've hurt some QB's lately.
Penn State wins by at least 2 TD’s....
The Ohio State QB stinks....
The OSU coach is garbage....
The OSU offensive tackles stink and are going up against two great pass rushers....
The middle of the OSU defensive line is small and will get mauled by a great PSU offensive line...
FYI- my daughter goes to OSU and we root for the Buckeyes
My degenerative gambler friend has been riding PSU all season (He showed up in a Tremor pickup last week).
He bought PSU at +10.5 back in August and has continued to pour money into PSU up until +6.0 a few days ago.
Either the Tremor will be gone, or he’ll show up towing a nice bass boat.
I’m not a gambler, but I’ve thought about it several time this season. I know a couple of guys that have been raking it in betting PSU and the over. I wish them well, I will be content with just a win.
Screw Ped-State!!!
Go Bucks. Even if they are the suck-eyes, Go Bucks!!!!
PSU is 13-0 against the spread since the Michigan loss last year.
I don’t gamble either. And like you, feel left out a bit.
For no other reason than a gut feeling, I think the Nittany Lions are going to prevail over the Buckeyes, much to the chagrin of Ohio State fans.
The furniture fires on campus will be amazing to watch. /s
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