STATE COLLEGE — The biggest announcement of Penn State’s preseason was a matter of when, not if. Turns out, it wasn’t formally announced until minutes before kickoff against West Virginia.
Drew Allar is officially Penn State’s starting quarterback. The highly-touted sophomore, whose pedigree and talent has long been a source of excitement for Nittany Lion fans, was announced as the starter during pregame introductions on Saturday night at Beaver Stadium.
Allar has been locked in what Franklin labeled a competition with Beau Pribula this offseason, though every sign pointed to Allar being the one to come out on top.
WATCH: Drew Allar throw 72-yard TD to Lambert-Smith on 2nd pass of season
Allar has generated buzz ever since he committed to Penn State and rose through the recruiting ranks. The Medina, Ohio native was a five-star prospect by the time he put pen to paper and signed in the 2022 class.
Allar is just the third five-star quarterback to sign with Penn State since 247 Sports started ranking prospects, joining Christian Hackenberg and Anthony Morelli.
Allar has the physical tools to be special. He has the size at 6-foot-5, 243 pounds to shrug off sacks and fight through arm tackles. He also has the natural arm talent. This summer, Franklin recalled FOX analyst Joel Klatt “drooling on the field” while watching Allar warmup before last year’s opener at Purdue.
Allar’s stock continued to rise as he established himself as Sean Clifford’s backup in 2022, beating out Christian Veilleux in preseason camp. He saw his first action at Purdue, spelling a briefly injured Clifford and showing off his lively arm.
Allar went on to play in 10 games, completing 35 of 60 passes for 344 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions. He also rushed for 52 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. Those reps were invaluable for Allar.
“Just be yourself,” Allar said, asked about the lessons he learned in 2022. “Go out there and be you. That’s one of the biggest things I learned. Don’t go out and force things. Just let the game flow to you.”
Franklin and Penn State’s staff made a conscious effort to get Allar as much playing time as possible last season while still sticking with Clifford. Despite calls from some fans for Allar to start as a true freshman, Clifford guided the Nittany Lions to an 11-win season and a Rose Bowl victory.
In Pasadena, with Penn State beating Utah comfortably, Clifford came out of the game to a round of applause — figuratively passing the baton to Allar. In a lot of people’s minds, Allar became the starter in that moment.
And yet, Franklin didn’t want to hand Allar the No. 1 job then and there. At Big Ten media days last month, he said Allar and Pribula, a former four-star recruit from Central York, were still in a “competition phase.” Despite plenty of questions, Franklin went the majority of preseason camp without naming Allar the starter.
That ended on Saturday — officially beginning Penn State’s Drew Allar era.