Drew Allar says game experience in 2022 was 'huge'

As a freshman, Drew Allar spent the majority of his time at Penn State, backing up Sean Clifford at quarterback. But because of the level of skill and talent he possesses, he found himself playing much more than anticipated. And for Allar, that played a significant role in his development.

During a recent sitdown interview on Next Up with Adam Breneman, the Nittany Lions quarterback explained how vital it was for him to get that time on the field and why it was important to him.

“It was huge,” said Allar. “Because obviously, practice is one thing, going against your defense every day, but being in a live game situation where it’s you win or lose, this is what you work for,” said Allar. “And all your hard work over the summer and each week goes into that week. Just going out and being able to execute the game plan doing what the coaches are asking you to do. Definitely helped me a lot.

“There was a couple of instances when I would go in; I missed an assignment. And I made sure I would never miss those again just because you don’t want to keep repeating the same mistakes. So I think it was very, very great for me to get in. I didn’t expect to get into that many games, either. So it was definitely a great learning experience every game I got the opportunity to go into.”

Last season, Allar saw action in 10 of Penn State’s 13 games, including in the Rose Bowl against Utah. In those 10 games, he’d pass for 344 yards, completing 35 of his 60 attempts for a completion percentage of 58.3 percent. Allar was also responsible for five touchdowns, four passing, and one rushing, with no interceptions.

Allar on his film-watching process

In that same interview, Allar also touched on watching film and what things he looks for when breaking down his opponent’s tape.

“Yeah, so usually, when I go in and watch film, our analysts have like a short breakdown of their tendencies. When I go in, I try to figure out the differences for me,” said Allar. “I always try to figure out where’s certain or identify the player that’s going to give me the most tell on a coverage. It’s different every week and different with every defense. And that’s why I try to look for, like, where somebody aligns on the field, when it’s a certain coverage and in a certain formation.

“I’ll go in and mostly do that. Then when we get the game plan, I’m like, ‘Okay, Reek, he’s here; this guy is over off the hash. He might be going cloud or something like that.’ So it’s definitely just looking for the little details and just seeing where everybody lines up in every formation.”