The Drew Allar era at Penn State is underway, and it was well worth the wait

STATE COLLEGE — TV reporters hustled stride for stride beside him on the Beaver Stadium turf. Photographers stayed in front, snapping away with their cameras. One by one, teammates and coaches approached him, hugged him and offered their congratulations.

Drew Allar drew a crowd Saturday night. And it was well earned.

Allar was everything everyone hoped to see in his first career start. He threw for 325 yards and three touchdowns. He was poised and precise.

Allar proved in Penn State’s 38-15 win over West Virginia that he can be the real deal. He proved that the Nittany Lions’ ceiling is however high he can take them. But what did Allar prove to himself in front of 110,747 fans and a national TV audience?

“I don’t really know what I proved to myself,” Allar said. “All I care about at the end of the day is the win-loss column. To beat a team like West Virginia at home in that atmosphere that we had, it’s just really special.”

What Allar did on Saturday night, now that was special.

The Allar era has been years in the making. That’s what made Saturday such a triumph. From the time Penn State started recruiting him as a three-star prospect to the day he signed as a five-star stud felt like a lifetime. He stepped on campus a star and a leader in the making, and he acted every bit of it as a freshman.

Allar bided his time. Penn State fans bided their time. Sean Clifford’s final season produced 11 wins and a Rose Bowl victory. That’s nothing to scoff at. But so much emotional investment went into Allar’s first start Saturday night. So much faith was baked into the energy exuded from the Beaver Stadium crowd.

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Allar repaid that faith with a 72-yard touchdown on his second throw. He avoided pressure, bought time in the pocket and saw KeAndre Lambert-Smith with a man on his tail. “I just stepped up and threw it,” Allar said.

With a simple flick of his right wrist, Allar dropped a 40-yard dime to Lambert-Smith, who did the rest.

Beaver Stadium lost its collective mind, Allar threw his hands up in celebration, and we were off.

From that point, Allar didn’t look back. It was his show, and the fans in Happy Valley were thrilled to have a ticket.

And the thing is, no one in Penn State’s locker room was surprised by that throw. They weren’t surprised he handled Cover Zero blitzes all night. They weren’t surprised that he delivered that type of performance.

“I thought he did a really good job of managing the game from a decision-making standpoint,” coach James Franklin said. “He’s extremely poised. He’s mobile for a big guy. Does a great job of climbing the pocket and keeping his eyes up. I was very pleased. … That’s the Drew we saw in preseason camp.”

Said receiver Harrison Wallace III: “It’s literally no difference. The same Drew you saw there is the same Drew we see in practice every day.”

The ball zipped out of his hands on out routes. When Penn State’s receivers turned their heads, the ball was there. His internal clock was on point, throwing it away when necessary, checking down when needed and taking only one sack. More times than not, he knew what he was doing.

There were a couple misfires. Allar got away with what should have been a red-zone interception, giving credit to Lambert-Smith for breaking it up. Allar also rushed a relatively easy toss to Lambert-Smith, who beat his man on a slant and had 60 yards of open space in front of him if the delivery was clean.

But besides that? Allar was on.

He looked ready — like the January 2022 enrollee had been looking forward to this moment for almost two years.

“Last year the coaching staff drilled home in every quarterback to prepare as the starter because you never know when your name is going to be called. So I don’t think it was any different for me emotionally,”

Allar said. He didn’t have any pregame or in-game jitters. “I don’t really get nervous,” he added. And it showed.

Saturday was a good sign for Penn State moving forward. There will be tougher tests than West Virginia. His first road start is coming up at Illinois in two weeks followed by a White Out against Iowa. Ohio State and Michigan loom large.

But try telling that to the swaths of students who stuck around after the game to cheer Allar off the field. Tell that to the fans who lined up inside of the Beaver Stadium tunnel just so they could chant his name as he walked by.

Allar’s performance was worth celebrating. And it was well worth that wait.