Penn State QB Drew Allar has unfinished business entering a potential Heisman campaign season

Penn State’s Drew Allar has been a winner during his time as the starting quarterback for the Nittany Lions. Allar has a 23-6 record as a starter and has led Penn State to one Big Ten Championship Game appearance and two College Football Playoff victories.

In Allar’s two seasons as QB1, he has thrown for over 6,300 passing yards with 53 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions. However, proverbial wisdom in sports often states that you’re only as good as your last game, and Allar’s last game wasn’t one to fondly remember.

In Penn State’s 27-24 loss to Notre Dame in the CFP Semifinal at the Orange Bowl, Allar went just 12-of-23 for 135 yards with a costly interception with 33 seconds left in the game. Allar’s mistake set up Notre Dame with a game-winning field goal attempt and effectively sent Penn State packing.

“There’s a lot of unfinished business, and that’s part of the reason I came back,” Allar said at Big Ten Media Day on Wednesday.

Another area of improvement for Allar is facing top competition. Per Michael Cohen of Fox Sports, Allar is 0-5 against top 10 opponents the last two years and has just a 49.3 completion rate in those games.

“The main reason I came back was to win. That starts with the Big Ten. But we have bigger goals than that. Having a shot at both of those opportunities last year and falling short by one score and two-score games was very frustrating for me, but very eye-opening at the same time,” Allar said. “It wasn’t a matter of we were out-physicaled or out-talented, just out-executed, from at least my standpoint. I know I could have played better in those games, and those are the kind of opportunities I want to have one more go at. To right the wrongs that I have had, and give me another opportunity to push it one more time to have our names up around this building.”

If Allar is to settle his unfinished business, he’ll have to become much more effective at throwing the ball down the field. Allar was elite on short throws, completing 81.2% of his passes fewer than 9 yards downfield. However, things get dicey beyond that range, with Allar completing only 52.2% of throws between 10 and 19 yards downfield. Further, four of Allar’s eight interceptions came on passes between 10 and 19 yards.

“All the mistakes I made were very correctable and easily correctable. It’s just about being intentional with those things,” Allar explained. “Maybe I didn’t know throughout the season that I was doing some certain stuff. But now, in the offseason, it’s getting those little things down so when those moments or windows in games when those things do come, bad habits or things like that don’t show up in the most critical moments and cost us.”

Penn State head coach James Franklin believes Allar has made the necessary strides to be a better player this fall, saying he’s gotten better “every single year in every single area”.

“He’s 6-5, he’s now 235 pounds, can make every throw on the field. Has shown that he can hurt people with his feet and has really made tremendous strides as a leader, holding himself to a high standard and willing to have tough conversations with his teammates, as well,” Franklin said.

Allar currently has the fifth-best Heisman odds on FanDuel Sportsbook (+1600), while Penn State has the fourth-best odds of winning the National Championship (+750). In short, the expectations from the masses are that Allar is the real deal, as is Penn State.

Allar is beginning to receive a lot of NFL buzz as he enters his final collegiate campaign. As things currently stand, Allar is projected to be not only a first-round selection, but he also has a strong chance to be a top 10 pick with a great 2025 season. ESPN gives Allar a 15% chance of being the No. 1 overall pick, which is tied for the highest percentage. However, there’s a long way to go between now and draft day, something Allar is fully aware of.

The further Penn State advances in the postseason, the greater the odds will be of Allar being a coveted draft prospect. It all starts with improving in critical moments against the best teams on Penn State’s schedule.