Drew Allar opens up on fans calling for him to replace Sean Clifford

Drew Allar heard the fans calling for him to replace Sean Clifford last season as Penn State’s quarterback. Well, in the first game, Allar came in against Purdue.

Overall, there were 10 appearances for Allar in 2022, some due to injury and some in relief. But the former five-star quarterback was never named the starter over the veteran Clifford.

Allar joined Next Up with Adam Breneman and opened up about the cries for him to start over Clifford.

“Not all of it was Sean’s, like, just things didn’t go the way we wanted obviously,” Allar said. “Honestly, Sean was probably the most mad out of anybody in the stadium because he wants to go out and complete every pass that he throws and be perfect and that’s not going to happen in football. But that was one of the great things I learned from him as well. Just seeing how he handled everything: fans, media, just how he handled everything with such class (and) professionalism was something that I really gained from him too.” 

Allar said he never really heard any of the outside noise during the game, but rather just fan noise.

“I never really heard it in the game,” Allar said. “It’d be more like fans after the game telling us what. (People would ask did you hear that)? I’m like, no, I’m focused on the game. I’m focused on doing whatever I can to help Sean out on the field telling them what I see from the sidelines.”

Allar finished last season 35-of-60 passing (58.3%) for 344 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions. He added 52 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Clifford meanwhile capped off his Penn State career with a Rose Bowl victory and was a fifth round pick by the Green Bay Packers in the 2023 NFL Draft.

How Clifford’s NFL career turns out remains to be seen, but Allar should be one of the best guys in the Big Ten this season.

But based on his comments, Allar had Clifford’s back the entire season despite the calls for a replacement.

As a member of the Class of 2022, Allar was a five-star recruit out of Medina (Ohio) High, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 3 overall prospect in the state, the No. 3 quarterback in the class and the No. 28 overall prospect in the class.