Miami, Florida– Many college football fans wondered what Penn State QB Drew Allar was thinking when he threw the interception that led to Notre Dame’s game-winning field goal.
Notre Dame picks off Drew Allar late in the fourth 😳 pic.twitter.com/F0SZvM5fFa
— ESPN (@espn) January 10, 2025
Allar got a chance to explain it during a postgame press conference.
The pick happened in a 24-24 game with 33 seconds left.
Notre Dame’s Christian Gray made the play and set ND up with a— no pun intended— golden opportunity to punch its national title game ticket.
It did just that, with Mitch Jeter nailing a 40-yard field goal.
Here’s what Allar was thinking on the pick.
WHAT ALLAR WAS THINKING
Photo by Matt Lynch, Nittany Sports Now
“Yeah, I mean, I was going through my progression got to the backside, and honestly, I was just trying to throw it at his feet but I should have just thrown it away. I felt the first two progressions were not open just because of the situation we were in, but I was just trying to throw it at Omari (Evans’) feet, but just didn’t execute what I was trying to do.”
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HOW WILL HE RESPOND
Penn State coach James Franklin is confident Allar will handle everything the way he needs to.
“Yeah, I mean, Drew is a passionate guy,” Franklin said. “He invested so much into his development but also to his teammates and to Penn State, and he’ll handle this like he handles everything else, with a first-class approach and with an investment level that’s as good as anybody in the country. His jump as a year-one starter to a year-two starter was significant. He’s got a chance to take another step next year.
But he’ll handle it the right way. He’s hurting right now. Should be hurting. We’re all hurting. This ain’t easy to get in here right after the game and have a conversation after you just poured your guts out on that field and really did it
all year long.
He’ll handle it great. He’ll be hurting tonight and he’ll be hurting tomorrow and he’ll hurt a little bit less the next day and so on and so forth. But he’s a committed guy that’s going to do it the right way, and he said it. It may not feel like it right now, but he’ll learn from this and he’ll be better for it, and so will we.”
Penn State’s next game is Aug. 30 against Nevada at Beaver Stadium.
