James Franklin reflects on Drew Allar's first start after beating West Virginia: 'Consistent, poised, accurate' 

Penn State moved to 1-0 in 2023, beating West Virginia 38-15 on Saturday night in Happy Valley. And it was a big milestone in the young career of quarterback Drew Allar, who made his first start.

After the win, head coach James Franklin reflected on Allar’s performance. He was impressed with the quarterback showing much of the same ability he flashed in limited action across 10 games last year.

“Very similar to how he played last year in a limited role. You never know when you’re the starter. But he looked like the same guy. Consistent, poised, accurate,” Franklin said.

Allar’s final passing line: 21-for-29 for 325 yards and three touchdowns.

He looked in command of the offense, got the ball out on time and, as Franklin noted at halftime, did a decent job of mitigating and avoiding the rush.

But it was West Virginia quarterback Garrett Greene that Franklin made sure to compliment after the fact.

“We just were able to get off the field on defense. Special teams, I thought, were better in the second half. We just executed a little bit better. The quarterback’s a really good player. He’s going to be challenging for a lot of people,” Franklin said.

And for a Penn State team with high aspirations, Franklin wasn’t looking ahead. He was glad to get to 1-0.

“Again, we’re just happy with beating West Virginia. We’ll prepare for whoever we play next week,” Franklin said.

Allar built on a strong first half performance

Penn State took a 14-7 lead into the half over West Virginia in the season opener on Saturday night and Franklin was generally content with the play of Allar. Allar was making his starting debut for Penn State this season.

While the offense didn’t light things up in the first half, Franklin through Allar was doing the right things and keeping the offense on schedule. Overall he thought the quarterback played “really well.”

“Saved some sacks for us, as well, so I think he’s doing some nice things,” Franklin said.

At the half, Allar completed 13-of-18 pass attempts for 214 yards and a touchdown.

Franklin also gave the defense some credit for keeping the West Virginia offense mostly at bay as the offense feels out the game.

“They are. There’s no doubt about it. We’ve gotta get off the field a little bit, create some three and outs, but overall, yes,” Franklin said.