It seems that the greatest college football coach ever is a fan of Penn State QB Drew Allar.
During Saturday’s episode of College GameDay from Bloomington, Indiana, Nick Saban, the seven-time national championship-winning coach said that he feels Allar is one of America’s most consistent quarterbacks.
Nick Saban: "The No. 1 thing about the QB is he's gonna distribute the ball every play in the game. So you've got to be able to trust the ball who's gonna make good choices and decisions. To me, Dillon Gabriel, Cam Ward and Drew Allar at Penn State have been the guys that have… https://t.co/XTYI6QWQaO
— Mike Rodak (@mikerodak) October 26, 2024
Saban, who coached at Alabama from 2007-23 and joined the GameDay Crew for his first season of retirement, never got the chance to coach against Allar. Penn State hasn’t played Alabama since 2011– when Saban coached against Penn State legend Joe Paterno. Allar has only been Penn State’s starter since the beginning of 2023.
But Saban now has more time to watch teams that Alabama doesn’t play. He likes what he sees from Allar.
WHAT IMPRESSES SABAN
TAMPA, FL – SEPTEMBER 16: Alabama Crimson Tide Head Coach Nick Saban watches the action on the field during the College Football game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the South Florida Bulls on September 16, 2023 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL. (Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire)
For Saban, among the best assets a quarterback can have is the ability to make smart choices and take care of the football. Allar has been historically good at not turning the ball over— although he did throw three interceptions in his last game, a 33-30 overtime win over USC, with one of them being on a Hail Mary. Saban feels Allar, Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel and Miami QB Cam Ward have been the best at this.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.“The No. 1 thing about the QB is he’s gonna distribute the ball every play in the game,” Saban said. “So you’ve got to be able to trust the ball who’s gonna make good choices and decisions. To me, Dillon Gabriel, Cam Ward and Drew Allar at Penn State have been the guys that have been most consistent at that.”
“I think there’s a lot of other really good quarterbacks. But at times, they’ve all shown some cracks in their armor in their decision-making. You’ve got to play winning football, which means you can’t make plays for the other team. You’ve got to take what the defense gives.”
ALLAR IS PLAYING ‘WINNING FOOTBALL’
Matt Lynch / Nittany Sports Now
Drew Allar has started 19 games at Penn State, and PSU has won 16 of them. Now, there will be a negative stigma around Allar until he avenges his poor performances in last year’s losses to Michigan at home (10-for-22, 70 yards, TD) and at Ohio State (18-for-42, 191 yards, TD). But he won far more than he lost last season, and so far this year, is a perfect 6-0.
Allar and Penn State will look to move to 7-0 Saturday night at Wisconsin. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 on NBC.
