COLUMBUS, Ohio — Drew Allar wiped tears from his eyes and tried to collect himself.

Penn State’s quarterback was noticeably and physically upset in the aftermath of Saturday’s 20-12 loss to No. 3 Ohio State, a defeat that humbled the previously unbeaten No. 7 Nittany Lions. Sitting in the visiting media room after the crushing loss, Allar couldn’t help but give in to his raw emotions.

The first-year starter, eye black smeared on his face, stared directly into his hands while listening to questions. But when he answered them, Allar did what some 19-year-old college football players might not do: He took accountability.

Allar was asked how he would assess how he played. He responded with one word: “Sucked.”

Later, Allar was asked why he was so hard on himself. Why do you say that you sucked?

“Because I did.”

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There’s no doubt Allar had his worst game in a Penn State uniform. The sophomore completed 18 of 42 passes for 191 yards with a touchdown that came in the closing seconds of what was already a two-score game.

Penn State faced that two-score deficit because the offense didn’t do its job. The Nittany Lions, somehow, converted only 1 of 16 third-down opportunities. They averaged 3.53 yards per play, the lowest Penn State has averaged in a game since the 49-10 loss to Michigan in 2016.

Allar’s 42.9% completion rate was the second lowest Penn State has had in a game since 2016. The only one worse? Sean Clifford and Allar’s combined effort in last year’s loss at Michigan.

Of course, Saturday’s defeat isn’t all on Allar.

The wide receivers, an area of concern all offseason, might not be good enough for Penn State to make a College Football Playoff. They certainly weren’t good enough to create separation and help their quarterback against an Ohio State secondary missing its top corner. The play-calling by offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich was questionable at best, detrimental at worst throughout the game. The running game, while promising early, disappeared quickly. And the offensive line didn’t hold up, allowing four sacks and eight tackles for loss.

Collectively, it was one of the worst offensive performances of the James Franklin era, if not the worst.

Still, it wasn’t Allar’s day. It wasn’t the homecoming some envisioned for the Ohio native, for the childhood Buckeye fan. It wasn’t the breakout performance some envisioned for the former five-star recruit, the player who arrived with such fanfare. It wasn’t the game anyone envisioned for No. 15. And that ate at him.

Allar said the last time he felt like he did Saturday afternoon was after he lost as a high school senior at Medina High School, two hours away from Columbus. Medina’s unbeaten 2021 season ended with a loss to St. Edward’s in the state playoffs.

The key difference is that, even though it might feel like it, Penn State’s season isn’t over with this loss at Ohio State. The Nittany Lions are 6-1 with five regular season games to play, including a home meeting with the Wolverines, the two-time reigning Big Ten champions, on Nov. 11.

“It sucks to lose. It’s not fun to lose. But we have to take tomorrow to get better,” Allar said. “… Today was not good enough at all. But if we attack each week and don’t lose faith in each other, we can still be in the position we want to be at the end of year. We just have to control what we can control, not worry about the outside noise, come together as a team and stick together.”

That was the message in Penn State’s postgame locker room. And that was the message from Allar’s teammates when asked about their sophomore quarterback.

The Nittany Lions had Allar’s back. And in Adisa Isaac’s words, they appreciated the “maturity” in how he handled himself in the moments after Saturday’s disappointment.

“It’s a team game. This isn’t a one-man show,” said Isaac, a captain and starting defensive end. “It’s not all on him. It’s not all on one man. It’s on all of us.”

“He’s a talented kid,” captain and tight end Theo Johnson added. “Obviously there are plays that didn’t go in our favor. And that’s everybody across the board. It’s about emphasizing that this is a team effort. Not one guy lost us this game.”

Now that it did lose, Penn State needs to bounce back in a big way. That starts with a home game next week against Indiana. Then, a trip to Maryland will be followed by the Michigan game.

By then, the Nittany Lions will hope to be 9-1. They’ll hope to have an offense that’s clicking better than it did against the Buckeyes. And they’ll hope to have a quarterback — and a team — that has grown from this.

That’s all Allar and Penn State can do at this point.

“There were a lot of emotions in the locker room, and for good reason,” Allar said. “We put countless hours of our work in, and it sucks to have a result like this. But we have to wash it and learn from it. If we don’t learn from it, we’re just fooling ourselves. We have to be critical of this film, learn from it and not let it happen again.

“I never want to feel like this again.”

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