By Kyle Golik
One of my all time favorite songs by The Beatles is “The Long And Winding Road” off of the group’s final album “Let It Be.” The song was written by Paul McCartney who has often said the song had a double meaning as there was great sadness that The Beatles were nearing the end, and then the song delivers a message of hope as the road continues.
The lyric that always gets me goes, “The long and winding road, that leads to your door, will never disappear, I’ve seen that road before, it always leads me here, lead me to your door.”
For Penn State quarterback Drew Allar, he potentially faces his “door” Saturday against Ohio State.
Allar left just before halftime due to an undisclosed injury against Wisconsin. Typically when it comes to injuries, coach James Franklin is very mum and doesn’t go much into detail, but he was willing to talk about Allar’s more than he usually does after the game.
“It was, ‘Is he going to be mobile enough to give us a chance to run the offense the way we need to run the offense,” Franklin said. “I asked him to be very, very honest with me. And he just didn’t feel like he was gonna be able to move well enough to go. And even at the end of the half there, you saw even throwing was challenging him.”
Fast forward to Monday, Franklin was pressed about what he needed to see from Allar to have him go:
More Sports News
“I think he’s played enough football for us that, that timeline will go all the way up to the game really. I do think from a practice perspective, we’re going to have to, no matter where we’re at on Tuesday, get both of those guys reps Tuesday and Wednesday. It’s too early to tell at this point. But he’s played enough football that I think that decision will go all the way up to game time.”
Franklin’s tone seemed straightforward and matter-of-fact about the situation which lends to think Allar should be ready to go. Keep in mind leading up to the Peach Bowl, Franklin had a similar poker face on player opt-outs, and as kickoff approached there were many opt-outs, so it is hard to lean too much into it.
Why the Ohio State game so important for Drew Allar’s First Round Pick Dreams
For Allar, this is the game many NFL scouts want to see him. If an NFL team is going to invest in him like a potential franchise quarterback, they want to see how well he can perform under the highest of pressure.
Allar had mixed results in 2023, some of his highs included leading Penn State to 10 wins in a season, becoming the ninth first-year Penn State quarterback in program history to lead Penn State to 10 or more wins in a season. Allar was amongst the nation’s leaders in touchdown-to-interception ratio as Allar passed for 25 touchdowns, which led the Big Ten conference, to only two interceptions.
The lows came in the biggest moments last season where Allar, against Ohio State, Michigan, and Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl, Allar’s performances were atrocious.
In the three games, each Penn State lost, Allar combined in the three contests to complete 45.6% of his passes and did not complete over 50% in any of those games. Allar averaged 185.3 yards in those games and each of his four touchdown passes were in garbage time when the game was already decided.
Notably, it was after the Ohio State game last season where Allar let his emotions get the best of him.
“Sucked,” Allar answered to describe his 18 for 42, 191 yard, and one touchdown performance. When Allar was asked to elaborate on the succinct previous answer, Allar just said “Because I did.” It wasn’t Allar’s best moment either at the podium but it showed what that game met and what door now closed behind him keeping with The Beatles reference.
I would argue the evolution of Allar in offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki’s system has maximized Allar’s abilities. He is in the Top 10 nationally in completion percentage (71.3) and QB Rating (83.6). Allar has career highs in yards per attempt (10.0) and yards per completion (14.0) along with 25 completions of 20 or more yards.
This will be the longest road Allar will travel in his career at Penn State. Allar is hoping his injury mends so he has an opportunity to secure his Penn State legacy with a signature win and snapping Ohio State’s seven-game winning streak against the Nittany Lions. What we have seen in gritty Allar performances against West Virginia, Illinois, and Southern California is he has answered the call every time so far in 2024.
While the McCartney song is somewhat melancholy in nature, it truly would be sad if Allar cannot go. It would be a door never tested, never known to be able to be opened. In arguably the biggest Penn State home game in a generation, it is Allar’s time to either secure the big win NFL scouts want to see to justify their stance of investing in Allar, or will it be another letdown that will leave a hanging question mark on Allar.
