Drew Allar’s college career at Penn State is over.
In a shocking 16 days, Penn State went from the No. 3 team in the country looking to take down Oregon at home in the White Out, to firing its coach and watching its starting quarterback go out for the season.
During his final press conference as Penn State head coach after a 22-21 loss to Northwestern, Franklin confirmed that Allar will miss the remainder of the 2025 season. His time as a Nittany Lion quarterback is done.
Athletic Director Pat Kraft addressed Franklin’s firing on Monday and became emotional when discussing Allar.
“It’s hard for me not to get emotional about that. He’s just an amazing kid. I don’t know what else to say,” Kraft said. “He’s been through a lot. And he is that, he’s a kid.”
Allar was injured on a scramble up the middle and took a big hit to his lower body late in the Northwestern loss.
“Anyone who doubts that young man’s commitment to Penn State and Penn State football, you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” Kraft said, choking up on his words.
Kraft took a long pause before continuing.
“Drew’s one helluva young man. He puts up with a lot of crap. I get it. The NIL era. He’s still a kid,” Kraft said. “There’s not a negative word that comes up when I think of Drew.”
Penn State is 3-3 in arguably the most disappointing on-field season in Penn State football history. It’s taken a significant role on the players.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.“You’ve got to understand, these kids work so hard and they love Penn State so much,” Kraft said. “I get to see them in a different way than you all do. I get to see them as my children. I’m not trying to lie to you all. We all know we want to win. He wants to win in the worst way. He’s working his hardest to do that.”
Allar finished his senior year completing 65% of his passes, throwing for 1,100 yards, eight touchdowns and three picks in six games.
“To see it end that way, you never want that,” Kraft said. “No matter the outcome of the games, I want our athletes to finish everything they start. In life and in games.”
Kraft is confident that Allar, who could have come out as a junior and been a first-round pick, will succeed at the NFL level.
“He’s going to be an incredible football player, an incredible ambassador for this program,” Kraft said. “I got to be honest, the fact that he stuck with us, it’s pretty awesome.”
In 45 career games, Allar threw for 7,402 yards, 61 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, won a College Football Playoff home game against SMU, won the Fiesta Bowl, and led Penn State to the Peach Bowl and Orange Bowl in three very successful seasons.
“He’s faced a lot of adversity here. I love the kid. He’ll be great for us right now and great for (Ethan Grunkemeyer). He has an incredibly bright future playing ball at the highest level,” Kraft said.
Allar’s legacy will be remembered for being a five-star recruit who threw two big interceptions to lose games against Notre Dame and Oregon, but should also be remembered fondly for how the program has developed over his time at Penn State.
