Penn State's Drew Allar Delivers Personal Defense of James Franklin

The Nittany Lions quarterback pushes back on the criticism of Franklin. "Nobody really knows what he's going through other than him," Allar said.

Penn State Nittany Lions coach James Franklin greets quarterback Drew Allar before a game at Beaver Stadium. | Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK

Penn State quarterback Drew Allar presented a personal defense of head coach James Franklin on Wednesday, four days after the Nittany Lions' loss at UCLA that prompted calls for Franklin's job to be on the line.

"I know he's getting a lot of criticism and that sort of thing, and nobody really knows what he's going through other than him," Allar said on a Zoom call with reporters. "I'm excited to go out there and play another game for him, because there's no other coach I'd rather be going out there for on Saturday."

Penn State returns to Beaver Stadium on Saturday to face Northwestern in its annual homecoming game. In their last Beaver Stadium appearance, Franklin and the team heard boos and worse following a double-overtime loss to Oregon.

Those boos traveled to the Rose Bowl, where the Nittany Lions fell to formerly winless UCLA in the most surprising result of Franklin's 12 seasons at Penn State. Considered a preseason national-championship contender, the Nittany Lions now are unranked in the AP Top 25 and 0-2 in the Big Ten for the first time under Franklin (the COVID-shortened 2020 season notwithstanding).

Allar, Penn State's third-year starting quarterback, stood by his head coach, saying that Franklin is "a big reason why I came back" for his senior season. Allar also said that his relationship with Franklin is "bigger than football."

"Obviously a big part of the reason why I came to Penn State is the football part of it," Allar said. "But it’s also the culture he’s built here, between the family atmosphere that the coaches and everybody that he brings into the program [provides] to the players, and really the players that he brings in and the players we recruit here at Penn State.

"It's a true brotherhood, and I think he's done a great job building that culture from the ground up in the 12 years since he was hired here. He's done a phenomenal job of that."

RELATED: Does James Franklin risk losing his locker room after consecutive Big Ten losses?

The bond between coach and quarterback

Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Drew Allar is congratulated by head coach James Franklin after their overtime win over the USC Trojans in 2024. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Franklin has said often that head coaches and quarterbacks bond through the shared experience of serving as the public faces of their teams. Allar reiterated his coach's perspective Wednesday, describing how Franklin and his family have helped him at Penn State.

"I think for me being the quarterback, there are a lot of similarities between the head coach and quarterback, when times are good and times are rough," Allar said. "So being able to relate to him and his family, that has been a great resource for me when I’ve gone through trials and tribulations and that sort of thing. I'm really close with his wife and his two daughters. They mean a lot to me. I know that they mean a lot to other players as well.

"And even if they're not here anymore, there’s always former players coming back, and it’s just because of the culture that’s he’s built here. It's going out there and playing for him, is kind of how I’m viewing it, and just going out there and putting my best foot forward and righting the wrongs that we’ve made so far."

Moving on from UCLA

Penn State’s Drew Allar on what’s next for him and the team after their loss to UCLA. pic.twitter.com/yD0azggTMv

— Mark Wogenrich (@MarkWogenrich) October 5, 2025

Allar played his best game of the season at UCLA, completing 73 percent of his passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for a career-high 78 yards. Allar led the Nittany Lions' in rushing yards against UCLA and had the team's longest run, a 27-yard scramble on 3rd-and-9 that led to a fourth-quarter touchdown.

After the game, Allar said that he would "throw 100 percent of my heart and effort into it and do whatever I need to do to get us right." He expanded on that process Wednesday.

"For me, it’s about going out and setting the tone during practice, whether that’s the way I’m carrying myself mentally and physically, or just being more vocal, whatever the case is," Allar said. "... Just trying to bring an edge to myself during practice and just being at a competitive level. I think we’ve done a good job of that really throughout the whole year but especially these last two days of practice."

Allar spends little time on campus during the football season. He takes one online class and otherwise estimates that he's in the Lasch Football Building for about 14 hours per day, arriving as early as 6 a.m. As a result, he hasn't taken the campus pulse regarding Penn State's season.

"It's about focusing on ourselves and really focusing on the coaches and the players and the support staff that are in Lasch, because we’re the ones that are in the position to go out and fix this situation we’re in," Allar said.

A new motivation

Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Drew Allar (15) runs with the ball during the fourth quarter against the UCLA Bruins at the Rose Bowl. | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

Allar hasn't had season so far that he anticipated, both personally and from a team perspective. The Nittany Lions have lost consecutive games for the first time in his career, and Allar ranks 59th nationally in completion percentage, 76th nationally in starting-quarterback rating and 85th in yards-per-attempt.

All of that has been motivating, Allar said.

"For us at least in the locker room as players, we're extra motivated," Allar said. [We're] not particularly happy. I think [we're] just more motivated than ever because of just everything that's transpired. We're an extremely motivated group. "