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Penn State football quarterback Drew Allar’s performance in the 2024 Blue-White Game was about as one probably would’ve expected it to go.
The good news is he had a touchdown pass and 202 passing yards, the latter being solid for a spring game and was more than he had in six separate games in 2023. The not-so-good news, on the other hand, is that he only completed 15 of 32 pass attempts.
Allar’s performance left more positive takeaways than negative ones. It was decent, which is how he thought it went.
“There was a lot of good that we showed on tape and that we’ll watch throughout the next couple of weeks,” Allar said postgame.
There were impressive throws throughout the game. Allar’s 30-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Rappleyea in garbage time was another example of his capabilities as a deep passer. That was one of several passes for 20 or more yards.
Although Allar himself generally played well, he was adamant there’s still work to be done.
“Still some things to clean up,” he said. “Specifically the pre-snap penalties on offense, just getting on the same page communicating and eliminating those things, but those are super easy to learn.”
The White Team had two false-start penalties, and Allar overthrew passes a few times. Fortunately for the offense, there’s still plenty of time to get in sync between now and the beginning of the regular season against West Virginia on August 31.
The group is still adjusting to new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki’s scheme. Allar mentioned that summer meeting plans are being discussed with his receivers to get on the same page ahead of the season.
Allar had several of his receivers involved in the game. Eight receivers caught passes, with Trey Wallace leading the pack with 72 receiving yards. The number of wideouts that he targeted was evidence of a healthy chemistry between him and the room.
“I think that’s one of the strengths of the receiving room. We have a lot of guys that can be plug-and-play at different positions and make catches,” Allar said. “Trey [Wallace] had a really good day and made a couple of nice catches. Kaden [Saunders], I know I missed him on the first deep ball to open the game, just overthrew him a tad.
“But you know, we’ve had plenty of those throughout the spring and I’m not worried about that stuff. But I think overall, we just did a really good job of taking what the defense gave us and receivers did a good job of getting open.”
Allar has never been reluctant to praise his receiving room, and he seemed happy with the ongoing chemistry. He felt more comfortable and liked the new scheme under Kotelnicki. It’ll be interesting to see how this progresses between now and the regular season.
“I think just overall command of the offense and comfort level [has grown]. I think the offense is a really good fit for not only me but the whole offense in general. We’re going to run stuff that the receivers like, that I like, the running backs, the offensive line likes, and the tight ends like,” Allar said. “It is different from last year in terms of that and I think just my comfort level has grown every practice throughout the spring.”
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Nolan is a third-year journalism major from Silver Spring, Maryland, which means he’s an avid fan of all D.C. sports teams. If Nolan isn’t writing about or watching sports, you can probably find him listening to all sorts of music or traveling. To keep up with Nolan, you can follow him on Twitter @nolan_wick or email him at [email protected].
Freshman running back Quinton Martin Jr. had two touchdowns en route to a White 27-0 blowout win.
“Y’all know from last year, we had the best line in the country, so ain’t no drop-off.”
Drysdale is survived by her son, Dereck Lively II.
Freshman running back Quinton Martin Jr. had two touchdowns en route to a White 27-0 blowout win.
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