Penn State head coach James Franklin, Drew Allar postgame press conference wrap-up
Penn State’s 38-15 victory over West Virginia wrapped up at a tidy time of 10:50 pm on Saturday night. The new college football clock rules, plus the style of the game, led to a short conclusion compared to previous years.
But that doesn’t mean everything goes smoothly. Penn State’s press conferences wrapped up late on Saturday, extending into Sunday morning. Here are head coach James Franklin and quarterback Drew Allar’s comments from last night.
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Franklin has high praise for Allar
The numbers don’t lie; Allar had a standout performance for Penn State in his first start. Franklin detailed where his first start sits in history after the game.
“Drew Allar is the first quarterback to throw for 300 yards in a season opener since 2014, and 325 yards is the second-most by a quarterback in their first start, so a lot of good things there,” Franklin said in his opening statement.
“If you look at these statistics, Drew was 21 of 29 for 325 yards and three touchdowns. Obviously, something really good to build on and no turnovers.”
The advanced metrics look even better. According to PFF’s adjusted completion percentage, which factors in drops and intentional throwaways, Allar completed an astounding 96% of his passes on Saturday night.
Allar also had a Big Time throw percentage of 10.3%, which was 8th nationally. Of course, PFF’s metrics are subject to review and can change slightly through the week.
Penn State Defense adjusts at halftime
The Penn State defense was surprisingly inconsistent on Saturday night, giving up more rushing yards than most expected; they also didn’t corral as many sacks and generate pressure the way most expected. Franklin had high praise for quarterback Garrett Greene.
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“I think they have a good offensive line coming into the season. And I think their quarterback does a phenomenal job. When you are rushing that type of quarterback, you got to keep in your rush lanes, and you can’t get above the level of the quarterback. That caused problems tonight, but I think it’s going to be good for us in the long term, that type of mobility as a quarterback position.”
Allar discusses big night
Allar is a typically humble and deferential player who prefers to give praise to his teammates in situations like last night. He was true to form, complimenting the work that the passing group did throughout the summer to have a night like they did on Saturday.
“The relationship with the receivers is really good. Obviously, this summer was huge for us, and I remember talking back in the spring how big it was going to be. I think it really paid off with all the work we put in through fall camp. Obviously, Dre [KeAndre Lambert-Smith] had a really good game tonight, and so did all the other receivers.
Allar went into detail on his 70-yard touchdown to start the game when asked how that play came together.
“West Virginia called a really good coverage against the play that we had on. I was just trying to step up in the pocket looking to run, and I saw Dre crossing the safety’s face across the field, and I just stepped up and threw it. It’s obviously good as a whole offense to get off to a fast start. That’s one of our points of emphasis throughout the week: getting points on the board with our first drive.”
