Penn State's Drew Allar Is a Different Quarterback This Year

After Penn State’s Orange Bowl loss to Notre Dame, the Nittany Lions had some reflecting to do. Coach James Franklin’s record against AP top-10 teams fell to 4-19, according to ESPN, and quarterback Drew Allar’s record dropped to 1-5.

Yet, the numbers tell only part of the story. Four of Allar's five losses were by one possession, with the fifth just a nine-point defeat. A handful of plays have been critical to Allar’s biggest losses, and those come down to execution. Allar zeroed in on that this offseason.

“We definitely need to find different ways to come out with different results in those games,” Allar said at Big Ten Football Media Days. “I think for us, at least me specifically, it’s about execution from a player standpoint. At least in my career, we haven’t really been blown out of the water by any team. So it’s really just about finding those areas to make one or two more plays throughout those games, because when you’re going against those great opponents that have equal talent as you and also an equal coaching staff, it comes down to maybe just four or five plays throughout the game.”

With those losses come learning curves. Allar’s gone through the disappointment of rewatching tape of his most painful losses, including reliving his costly interception against Notre Dame, to become a better version of himself.

What he found is that his mistakes, while frustrating, are “easily correctable.” Allar noted them as “bad habits” and made a consistent effort through the offseason to improve so they don’t show up in marquee matchups.

“Maybe I didn’t know throughout the season that I was doing some certain stuff. So now, when I was in the offseason, [I'm] hammering those things down so when those moments and games do come, the bad habits don’t show up in the most critical moments, where it does cost us,” Allar said.

Another topic of the offseason has been Allar’s mentality. Entering his third year as the starter, Allar is known to wear his emotions on his sleeve, which could contribute to his tight performances in big games.

The emotion and passion is resourceful in some situations but could be a negative when it comes to dwelling on certain plays, potentially snowballing them into something much worse. Allar has noticed that and made an effort to work on it during the offseason.

“I think for me, the consistency of just no matter if the drive is good or bad, interception or touchdown, just bouncing back from good or bad,” Allar said. “That’s something I’ve been focusing on since really spring ball. … Learning how I should be able to flush things, it’s just something I’ve been working on.”

Outside of his mechanics, Allar has worked extensively in the weight room this offseason. He’s down about 10 pounds, to 235, and, as offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki said, looks quite different than he did last season.

“I’m the leanest I’ve been, probably the lightest I’ve been and then also the fastest and strongest I’ve been since I’ve been at Penn State,” Allar said.

Allar’s quarterback trainer Brad Maendler recently posted a video on X of Allar shirtless and throwing deep balls. Franklin joked in Las Vegas that it was the first time he had seen Allar with his shirt off.

“He's leaner than he's ever been,” Franklin said. “I saw a video that Brad Mendler posted the other day, and his shirt is off. I've never seen Drew with his shirt off. He's feeling good about himself out there, can make every throw on the field, is holding himself accountable, is challenging his teammates. So it's really valuable.”

The “foot pop” provides a great opportunity for QB’s to experiment with different ways to generate power, especially off-platform. @drewallar and @e_grunkemeyer got after it today 🎯

Season around the corner… tick tock 🧨 #WeAre #QBX🎯💪🌪 pic.twitter.com/xlDygJXgak
— Brad Maendler (@BradMaendler) July 21, 2025

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