Best Analysis I've seen so far on what's wrong with Allar

donaldfair71

Junior
Jul 4, 2005
330
315
63
Anthony Richardson was a top 5 pick. He sucked. Are you discussing NFL draft picks or college qb play?
In college, Stetson Bennett was a Heisman finalist. Is that college qb play?

In his last year in college, JJ McCarthy completed 72% of his passes and averaged almost 9 yards an attempt. Is that college qb play?

Is the goal here to say that Sean Clifford is/was as good as them? You are not discussing in good faith, and debating to be argumentative rather than substantive.

Edit: To add context here, it was conceded above that Clifford had games. His 2021 game in Columbus will go down in the annals of great Penn State games in losses.

But he had far too many just absolute "0" games, especially in an era where you couldn't have those and still win anything because two losses were fatal. Illinois, not good enough. Michigan, not good enough. Rutgers, the same. Just no consistency, and worse, he didn't go from Pretty Good to Average. It was Pretty Good to Unplayable, which probably explains being benched for a short time in 20 and 21.
 
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Corner Room Breakfast

All-Conference
Oct 27, 2021
1,314
1,740
113

This has been a problem at PS for a long time, loyalty can only go so far, but it worked out for Blackledge over Hostetler.

I thought Beau made better decisions and more accurate in the short to intermediate range, Drew stronger arm and could take more punishment as a runner. Drew is doing good on the NIL, maybe sitting a few series will make him hungry to dig deep.
 

LMTLION

Senior
Mar 20, 2008
291
477
62
If the O-Line could get their act together then this offense would look a lot better. That would obviously help Drew and the WRs/TEs and certainly Kaytron. Nick too but his vision is so lousy and he goes down with hand tackles that it is not as conclusive that he would benefit from better OLine play.

The stat that has jumped out to me is Oregon got pressure on like 18 of 25 pass plays. Totally ridiculous. Clean this up and the offense has to look better. However, this doesn't get AK off the hook. He needs to be better with his play calls. He needs to have a better feel for the game and stop with the bush league gimmick plays.
Allar holds on to the ball for far too long, usually around 4 secs or more before making a decision. The Oregon qb made his reads and got rid of the ball in 2 seconds. If Allar was the QB at Oregon, they would appear to have a terrible offensive line as well. He takes way too long to progress through his reads. This is 90% on our QB.
 
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May 11, 2012
340
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This has been a problem at PS for a long time, loyalty can only go so far, but it worked out for Blackledge over Hostetler.

I thought Beau made better decisions and more accurate in the short to intermediate range, Drew stronger arm and could take more punishment as a runner. Drew is doing good on the NIL, maybe sitting a few series will make him hungry to dig deep.
Hard to say "Hoss" wasn't as good as Blackledge....he did win a Super Bowl!
 

PSUForever

Senior
Feb 17, 2007
540
446
63
Allar holds on to the ball for far too long, usually around 4 secs or more before making a decision. The Oregon qb made his reads and got rid of the ball in 2 seconds. If Allar was the QB at Oregon, they would appear to have a terrible offensive line as well. He takes way too long to progress through his reads. This is 90% on our QB.
Yes that is part of it but it is not as black and white as that. The playcalling needs to improve and the O-Line still needs to improve. Run blocking is not good and they were allowing pressure even after a couple seconds on plays so it is not all Allar. Does he need to improve? Yes, but other areas of the offense need to improve also and the O-Line is a key piece.
 
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Texas Lion

Redshirt
Aug 10, 2018
36
49
18
4 things take it for me:

1. the last second pat of the football almost always ends up in him throwing behind guys.
2. Watch the practice videos against the air. Again, almost always throws behind the receivers.
3. Warren almost always catching contested balls made him look really, really good.
4. why are we the only scheme in america that never has wr just running wide open all over the place. the play that was made by oregon, Moore simply had to avoid DDS for one second, then looks up and due is wide open as always.
 
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cjrugger

All-Conference
Dec 13, 2017
2,380
4,819
113
In college, Stetson Bennett was a Heisman finalist. Is that college qb play?

In his last year in college, JJ McCarthy completed 72% of his passes and averaged almost 9 yards an attempt. Is that college qb play?

Is the goal here to say that Sean Clifford is/was as good as them? You are not discussing in good faith, and debating to be argumentative rather than substantive.

Edit: To add context here, it was conceded above that Clifford had games. His 2021 game in Columbus will go down in the annals of great Penn State games in losses.

But he had far too many just absolute "0" games, especially in an era where you couldn't have those and still win anything because two losses were fatal. Illinois, not good enough. Michigan, not good enough. Rutgers, the same. Just no consistency, and worse, he didn't go from Pretty Good to Average. It was Pretty Good to Unplayable, which probably explains being benched for a short time in 20 and 21.

In college, Stetson Bennett was a Heisman finalist. Is that college qb play?

In his last year in college, JJ McCarthy completed 72% of his passes and averaged almost 9 yards an attempt. Is that college qb play?

Is the goal here to say that Sean Clifford is/was as good as them? You are not discussing in good faith, and debating to be argumentative rather than substantive.

Edit: To add context here, it was conceded above that Clifford had games. His 2021 game in Columbus will go down in the annals of great Penn State games in losses.

But he had far too many just absolute "0" games, especially in an era where you couldn't have those and still win anything because two losses were fatal. Illinois, not good enough. Michigan, not good enough. Rutgers, the same. Just no consistency, and worse, he didn't go from Pretty Good to Average. It was Pretty Good to Unplayable, which probably explains being benched for a short time in 20 and 21.
A) 61% 21td/8int 3107 yards, 239 per game
B) 64.4 24/7 2822 yards, 217 per game
C) 64.5 29/7 2862 yards, 191 per game
D) 72.3 22/4 2991 yards, 199 per game

2 national champs and 2 Sean Cliffords. Not a lot in it.

Football is a team game. Georgia and Michigan won on the lines and we lost on both sides of the trench battle on Saturday.

Enjoy the game and the season. I hope you find happiness
 
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Aug 20, 2003
382
415
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Apparently there are folks okay with that.

Honestly, I would be OK with it if we were in all of the games. But those losses in 2023 to OSU and UM were a f'ing disaster. The offense simply went AWOL much like the first three quarters last week. Believe it or not, I had hope Allar was going to lead PSU another TD. I believed.. lol... Just like I did with ND.

I'm too old. I remember "The Drive" like it was yesterday (actually, there were TWO drives.) It distorts my judgement.
 
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donboy6499

Freshman
Jun 9, 2025
53
79
18
Honestly, I would be OK with it if we were in all of the games. But those losses in 2023 to OSU and UM were a f'ing disaster. The offense simply went AWOL much like the first three quarters last week. Believe it or not, I had hope Allar was going to lead PSU another TD. I believed.. lol... Just like I did with ND.

I'm too old. I remember "The Drive" like it was yesterday (actually, there were TWO drives.) It distorts my judgement.
Outside of 2020, Penn State has played 3 games in Ann Arbor since Franklin’s got to State College.
Hasn’t shown up offensively in any of them. Not “hey offense struggled only got 17 up”. I mean didn’t exist for several drives at a time. And they weren’t out of them until second half.
 

thoss

Freshman
Aug 7, 2025
40
93
18
Allar holds on to the ball for far too long, usually around 4 secs or more before making a decision. The Oregon qb made his reads and got rid of the ball in 2 seconds. If Allar was the QB at Oregon, they would appear to have a terrible offensive line as well. He takes way too long to progress through his reads. This is 90% on our QB.
He has no confidence. The protection's been erratic but even when he has a good pocket he's jumping around, uncomfortable. He doesn't anticipate routes, can't release fast, so he holds the ball and by 3-4 seconds he's got pressure. If he were able to release the ball at 2 seconds the pressure statistics would look totally different. The opportunities are there but Drew is just locked up mentally and can't see them. It's a sad thing to see. He really needs to sit for a few games and just relax and collect himself...but instead he'll get thrown out there week after week and he will continue to struggle. His mechanics and location difficulties really compound the overall problem because he doesn't trust himself (and the way he's throwing the ball he SHOULDN'T trust himself).

The one thing I wish the coaches would do is just have him throw long more. If anything he's more accurate on long passes. He can wear out secondaries and this year he has the receivers to throw downfield with #5 and #1. So max protect, keep the TEs in to block, have two wideouts go and try to get 1 on 1 with a safety. PSU should be doing that like 10 times a game and good things would happen.
 

LB99

Heisman
Oct 27, 2021
7,958
10,761
113
It's no pivot- it goes to exactly what having no consistent QB play (IE, struggling with back to back effective play) has cost the program.

Stetson Bennett was a Heisman finalist. JJ McCarthy was a top 15 draft pick.
So, what? Jamarcus Russel was a first round pick also. JJ McCarthy ran a heavy run first offense with little passing and has shown nothing to this point in the NFL because he can’t stay healthy. I bet in two years or sooner the Vikings will realize they made a drastic mistake. Stetson Bennett was surrounded by NFL talent on both sides of the ball that made him look decent. He was decent at best.
 
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BobPSU92

Heisman
Aug 22, 2001
40,829
29,747
113
So, what? Jamarcus Russel was a first round pick also. JJ McCarthy ran a heavy run first offense with little passing and has shown nothing to this point in the NFL because he can’t stay healthy. I bet in two years or sooner the Vikings will realize they made a drastic mistake. Stetson Bennett was surrounded by NFL talent on both sides of the ball that made him look decent. He was decent at best.

jj was dy-no-mite in “college” (😞), but um cheated.
 

donaldfair71

Junior
Jul 4, 2005
330
315
63
So, what? Jamarcus Russel was a first round pick also. JJ McCarthy ran a heavy run first offense with little passing and has shown nothing to this point in the NFL because he can’t stay healthy. I bet in two years or sooner the Vikings will realize they made a drastic mistake. Stetson Bennett was surrounded by NFL talent on both sides of the ball that made him look decent. He was decent at best.
Do you think that Michigan wins a national title in 2023 with Sean Clifford? Georgia in 21 or 22?
 

donaldfair71

Junior
Jul 4, 2005
330
315
63
Maybe? I don’t think Bennett was better than Clifford.
I don’t think at Clifford’s very best he was either.
Problem with Clifford was consistency. Even within games, I recall some really bad turnovers mixed in with wonderful play. Usually against the best teams on the schedule.
 

BobPSU92

Heisman
Aug 22, 2001
40,829
29,747
113
I don’t think at Clifford’s very best he was either.
Problem with Clifford was consistency. Even within games, I recall some really bad turnovers mixed in with wonderful play. Usually against the best teams on the schedule.

Clifford also took a beating.
 
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LB99

Heisman
Oct 27, 2021
7,958
10,761
113
I don’t think at Clifford’s very best he was either.
Problem with Clifford was consistency. Even within games, I recall some really bad turnovers mixed in with wonderful play. Usually against the best teams on the schedule.
Bennett was afforded 5 star first round OL and great WRs. I’ll ask again. Don’t think Bennett wins a Natty at PSU?
 

donaldfair71

Junior
Jul 4, 2005
330
315
63
Bennett was afforded 5 star first round OL and great WRs. I’ll ask again. Don’t think Bennett wins a Natty at PSU?
I think you put Stetson on Penn State’s team, they don’t win a title. But they get better qb play, maybe beat Ohio State in 22 and sneak into playoff. But not win title.
I think you put Clifford on any of those Georgia teams, there’s at least one game along the way (SEC title games? Playoff? Maybe one more regular season loss?) each year, likely several, where his carelessness with the ball or inaccuracy costs them a win.
 

LB99

Heisman
Oct 27, 2021
7,958
10,761
113
He has no confidence. The protection's been erratic but even when he has a good pocket he's jumping around, uncomfortable. He doesn't anticipate routes, can't release fast, so he holds the ball and by 3-4 seconds he's got pressure. If he were able to release the ball at 2 seconds the pressure statistics would look totally different. The opportunities are there but Drew is just locked up mentally and can't see them. It's a sad thing to see. He really needs to sit for a few games and just relax and collect himself...but instead he'll get thrown out there week after week and he will continue to struggle. His mechanics and location difficulties really compound the overall problem because he doesn't trust himself (and the way he's throwing the ball he SHOULDN'T trust himself).

The one thing I wish the coaches would do is just have him throw long more. If anything he's more accurate on long passes. He can wear out secondaries and this year he has the receivers to throw downfield with #5 and #1. So max protect, keep the TEs in to block, have two wideouts go and try to get 1 on 1 with a safety. PSU should be doing that like 10 times a game and good things would happen.
I think he needs a few designed runs early in the game. Get hit. Get the butterflies out. Stop thinking. Just play.