Penn State quarterback Drew Allar 'excited' for opportunity to play for Big Ten Championship
Penn State quarterback Drew Allar led the Nittany Lions to another win Saturday and an 11-1 record this season. But not only that, he and his teammates are now headed to the Big Ten Championship game next weekend to face the No. 1 team in the country, Oregon.
“Excited,” Allar said when asked about his thoughts on Penn State playing in the Big Ten Championship game next weekend. “We get an opportunity to go into Indianapolis now and play for the Big Ten championship. That’s why we all come to Penn State to play in big games like this. It’s gonna be a huge opportunity for us. Obviously, it’s going to be a very talented team that we’re going against that’s had a great year so far as well. So, this is another great opportunity for us.”
Offensively, the Nittany Lions put up 412 yards of offense against Maryland in their regular season finale. Most of their production came in the second quarter, as Penn State scored touchdowns on four consecutive drives to take a 31-7 lead into halftime. However, Allar made it clear that the first quarter, which saw them go three-and-out on three consecutive drives after fumbling on the first, also has his attention most. Fixing those issues ahead of next week’s game and the College Football Playoff is a must if the Nittany Lions are going to make a run at a national championship.
Highs & Lows: Penn State blasts Maryland, reaches B1G title game
“I think it was us stopping ourselves again,” Allar said when asked about the slow start. “Obviously, the first play of the game, we’ll get rid of that. I have no worries about that and Nick [Singleton] did a great job of bouncing back on the kickoff and putting us in plus territory right away. He did a really good job of responding. But it was just little things again. We were stopping ourselves more than they were stopping ourselves today.
Top 10
- 1New
Big 12 title game scenarios
ASU in, 3 teams with clear path
- 2
Norvell chucks Florida flag
FSU HC heated after Gators planted flag
- 3
Bama trolls Auburn LB
Demarcus Riddick comments resurfaced
- 4
Maurice Clarett on Ryan Day
OSU legend changes tune on coach
- 5
Locksley calls out Franklin
Terps HC: 'It was bullshit'
“So, we’re gonna have to dissect the film, look at it, and be honest with ourselves and learn from it because we can’t have slow starts like that at this point in the season.”
Allar finished the regular season with 2,668 yards passing, 18 touchdowns and five interceptions. More importantly, he led his team to an 11-1 record and a chance to play for the game’s biggest prize in the coming weeks.
“I thought throughout the year, we really found different ways to win different types of games,” Allar said. “I think we’re a resilient team. We’re a physically challenged team in the ways we’ve been tested throughout the year. I think we’ve been battle-tested in many different ways throughout the year. But obviously, just in general, making your conference championship, especially in a conference like this in the Big Ten, that’s so deep with so many very talented teams, with talented players, talented coaching staffs, it means a lot to us and it’s something we’re not taking for granted.”
