Simplicity. Roll onto the field and take care of the job. Sans much flash or pageantry, averting undue risk. That was James Franklin and his Nittany Lions’ modus operandi for much of 2024, certainly through the CFP. There’s a stigma around the “game manager” moniker for quarterbacks. Drew Allar certainly has the tools in his repertoire to not be clubbed into that archetype, but he was playing like one for the most part. Sticking to the Xs and Os and coloring inside the lines, so to speak. Largely because of his dearth of weapons on the perimeter. Penn State got around its fractured receiving corps. fairly well all season, courtesy of Tyler Warren. But it caught up to them at the most inopportune moment. Whilst Allar also simultaneously had his most inopportune lapse.

Not to flare any residual PTSD within the Penn State faithful, but that Orange Bowl loss to Notre Dame really was brutal, wasn’t it? For one, James Franklin’s infamous woes against the big teams continued. He’s now 3-20 against top-10 ranked opponents. But, in a vacuum, this loss didn’t even really fall on his shoulders. Drew Allar probably deserves the lion’s share of the blame (pun unintended!). As much as the lack of vim in the WR room was discussed ad nauseam, a grand total of zero receptions for his wideouts does fall on the QB. But that was an issue in the macro. The microcosm of why Allar caught flak in the aftermath of that final 4 loss was the final 38 seconds of the game. 

Drew Allar threw an inexplicable pick when the scores were tied. When he probably should’ve checked it to his tailback and taken things to overtime. The Irish scored from the resulting drive. To rub salt into wounds, Allar even threw a lateral out of bounds on the final play. A disastrous sequence that brought into question Allar’s maturity and poise. Now, it’ll be naive and borderline delusional to suggest Drew Allar isn’t a great quarterback. Ask anybody who’s ever viewed him from an NFL lens and they’d tell you so if they could stop salivating first. If the Notre Dame game showed his worst, the B1G championship also showed Allar’s best. But let’s look forward now. Heading into the ‘25 season, PSU is a consensus national championship contender. As Allar prepares to spearhead this program to the promised land, James Franklin has some words for him.

Speaking to NBC Sports, James Franklin was asked what “the next step” in Drew Allar’s growth and development is to “chase that national championship?” To this, Coach Franklin said, “I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily one thing…He just needs to continue to get a little bit better in every area. But when you get to this point in your career, getting a little bit better is harder and harder to do, right? The margins become smaller.” A subtle warning to QB1 about now getting complacent. Falling into a false sense of security, thinking improvement is linear. While Drew Allar has added to his arsenal of skills year after year, there’s only so much more room. He possesses all the tangibles, and so the intangibles is where he needs to squeeze every last bit of juice. Coach Franklin proceeded to elaborate on specific areas of Allar’s game that he wants to target.

“I thought it was a big step [Drew Allar] took this year…[to] be able to extend plays with his legs, continuing to be explosive…We need more of that, specifically in the passing game. And then, always, he’s done a great job with the TD:INT ratio. One of the best in the country. We need to continue to build on that. And then completion percentage, so that more guys can get touches,” said James Franklin. He also mentioned how Allar’s headed to the Manning Passing Academy in the summer to train, and how it’ll be beneficial to his game. There’s a lot to work with within Drew Allar. Penn State’s fate from a championship standpoint is going to depend on how well that talent can be extracted. As well as how potential errors in judgment can be mitigated.  

Getting guys like Trebor Pena through the transfer portal to add to the receiving corps. should help the cause. Not to mention, the returning 2-headed monster of Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton in the backfield. Drew Allar is losing his favourite target in Tyler Warren, but his weapons are more potent overall. No real excuses for Allar. Not even on the other side of the football, supercharged by the arrival of new DC Jim Knowles from Ohio State. During the same aforementioned interview with NBC Sports, James Franklin touched upon the iffy circumstances around Knowles’ arrival in State College.

James Franklin opens up about how the Jim Knowles hire came about

Veteran d-coordinator Jim Knowles trading Columbus for Happy Valley was probably the most sensational move of the offseason. Certainly one of the most impactful ones, in terms of balancing the scales of power within the B1G. Coach Knowles’ exit to a conference rival right after a championship spawned widespread discourse around why. He has himself cleared the air now, the appalling nature of which only birthed more questions than answers. But as for James Franklin, he’s still counting his lucky stars! “I’m just focused on trying to get the best people we can in our football building…It just came down to one of the best defensive coordinators in college football [being]  available, and we made a run at him,” he said. Coach Franklin also delved into how it wasn’t a straightforward task to lure the man. Even after dishing out a $9 million contract.

The reason Penn State had a vacancy was that Tom Allen jumped ship to Clemson. Which was somewhat peculiar in itself, given it’s more or less a sideways move. “The challenge was that when we were looking for [a new DC], so was Notre Dame. So was Oklahoma. And then, Ohio State [is] trying to keep him. So, it made it probably a little bit more challenging than I would have liked. But at the end of the day. I’m really glad he’s part of our family and in our building…[Jim Knowles] has got a unique perspective on the conference. He’s got a unique perspective on us. This spring has been phenomenal,” added James Franklin. Who’s under more duress than anybody in that program. 

James Franklin really does need to get that proverbial monkey off his back this year. The record against the top teams is already poor enough. But if it surges further, in a year when he has a more stacked roster than ever before, then some very unwelcome conversations will be had. He’s got the support of the alumni base, as does Drew Allar. But reciprocating this support by delivering hardware is the yardstick he’ll be measured with through the fall.