Urban Meyer shoots down narrative that Penn State is holding Drew Allar back

First-year starting quarterback Drew Allar was one of the most exciting things about the Penn State Nittany Lions coming into this season. To this point, however, the offense has been good but stayed away from explosive plays this year. In turn, that has led to a narrative that Penn State is purposefully holding Allar back in some way.

That’s a narrative that former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer doesn’t put much stock in, though. He explained on Urban’s Take with Tim May that it’s nonsense.

“When you hear that, Tim, it’s nonsense,” Meyer said. “I’ve heard people say, ‘Is the coaching staff saving something for Ohio State? Are they holding it back?’ What are you talking about? No. All due respect, that’s writers and fans, and no.”

Meyer explained that Penn State can’t afford to hide something about Drew Allar from Ohio State when the Nittany Lions are still learning about themselves.

“You have a young quarterback, you’re trying to get him as much success as possible. You do what the defense gives you. When you see him throw a short pass, they’re not telling him to throw a short pass. The defense is probably telling him to do that because they’re covering the deep ones,” Meyer said.

“So, no. That’s, no. First of all, it doesn’t really happen, and second of all, Penn State is trying to figure themselves out too. Defensively, they’ve figured it out. Offensively, they haven’t yet and they’ve got really good players. Those two running backs are phenomenal.”

Ultimately, there are a few possible reasons why Penn State hasn’t been throwing downfield besides Drew Allar just taking what the defense gives him. The first is that the Nittany Lions are hiding something from opponents like Ohio State. That is, according to Meyer, doubtful. However, it is still possible the Nittany Lions are nervous about letting Allar open things up or that they don’t trust the team’s weapons.

Still, in his time at Penn State, Drew Allar has put up excellent numbers. Through six games this season, Allar has completed 65.2 percent of passes for 1,254 yards and 12 touchdowns. He’s also rushed for three more scores and has not thrown an interception.

James Franklin on conversations with Drew Allar ahead of Ohio State game

Normally, James Franklin doesn’t like to have special conversations with a player before any particular game. However, after getting asked several times about Drew Allar returning home to Ohio, he admitted that he might need to change that policy for a special occasion.

“Well, I wasn’t going to talk to him, but this is my third interview today and everybody obviously is talking to him like that, so I am going to talk to him. We don’t really do things like that, but I am going to have a conversation with him because I can’t control the things outside of our building,” Franklin said.

“But, yeah, I want Drew to do the same thing he’s done all year long. I want him to prepare the same way. I want him to practice the same way. You know, I don’t think he’s a big social media guy, so tune all that stuff out, get better this week through his preparation and performance, which is really no different than any other week.”