It ended in a fury of boos, of sadness, in holding back tears while sitting on a cart while being driven to the locker room with less than five minutes left in a lost season at Penn State.
Drew Allar arrived at Penn State as the five-star quarterback who held the keys to the Nittany Lions’ next national title, and he leaves as the lasting image in coach James Franklin’s downfall and, ultimately, his firing.
Less than 24 hours after Allar’s unfulfilling Penn State career came to an end with a lower leg injury in the closing minutes of a stunning home loss to Northwestern, Franklin’s Penn State career did as well with his Sunday firing that will cost Penn State nearly $60 million in buyout money.
They will be forever synonymous.
“Most people had him projected as a first round draft choice last year,” Franklin said in the summer. “He decided to come back to school, unfinished business collectively, as a team, but also as an individual.”
Allar did not perform like most first round draft picks at quarterback do, and there are loads of reasons, including questionable talent at receiver and an offensive coordinator who made his name at Kansas by using the quarterback to stress defenses with his feet as much as his arm.
A former five-star, Allar was recruited as a drop back, pro-style, pocket passer. After former Nittany Lions offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich was fired late during Allar’s first season as a starter, and the focus was on getting a coordinator who could help Allar more.
Of the lasting images from a career that failed to live up to the promise is a fourth-and-2 read option from the UCLA 12-yard line in the last minute of the loss to the Bruins two weekends ago.
The play call had Allar choosing between handing the ball off to a receiver on an end around or keeping it and running between the tackles. He kept it and was dropped for a 3-yard loss as the option was to use his legs and not his arm.
Make no mistake, Allar’s career is solid. He completed 63 percent of his passes, threw for more than 7,400 yards and had 61 touchdowns to 13 interceptions. He also rushed for 732 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Good, no doubt — but so much more was expected and anticipated. He was the No. 1 quarterback and No. 3 player in his class coming out of Medina (Ohio) High, and was deemed to be the type of quarterback needed to win a national title.
But, in being tied with the embattled Franklin, the judgment is heavily tied to the high-profile games: the types of games that result in legacies being built and, like Franklin, Allar’s is filled with disappointment and underwhelming performances.
A pair of NFL front office talent evaluators who scouted Allar multiple times in games and practices had similar opinions.
“He had a hard time anticipating throws,” one said.
Said the other: “He doesn’t always see it down the field.”
In the marquee losses — Ohio State and Oregon twice each, Michigan and Notre Dame — Allar was 86 of 172 (50 percent) for 905 yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions. Each game was a loss.
Even in the two playoff wins last season — SMU and Boise State — he was 26 of 47 (55.3 percent) for 298 yards and three touchdowns.
“People are going to look at stats, and those are easy things to look at, and that can show …improvement,” second-year Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki said in August. “But decision making (is another factor). Not everyone knows what’s involved in (the) decision-making that he’s making. I think you would see from him as just a total comfort.”
It is a complicated legacy, though. Penn State’s receiving corps is oft-maligned for not being elite, which showed in how the group had no catches in the semifinal loss to Notre Dame last year and resulted in three transfer receivers being brought in this year.
“He needs more play-making around him, and that’s why we’ve been aggressive in the offseason” Franklin said at Big Ten media days in the summer.
In Allar’s last two games — the stunning losses at UCLA and home to Northwestern — he was 32 of 46 for 337 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Allar’s Penn State career ended Saturday on the Nittany Lions’ second-to-last offensive play, a 1-yard gain on a scramble on third-and-4 with less than five minutes remaining. The end to the Franklin regime was sowed years earlier, gradually and then suddenly, as he ran out of fixes for a 5-star QB who could have changed his legacy.
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