Penn State AD Pat Kraft gives emotional reaction to Drew Allar season-ending injury

It’s the end of an era for Penn State. The Nittany Lions lost their third game in a row on Saturday, which led to athletic director Pat Kraft firing head coach James Franklin. Somewhat lost in that story, longtime starting quarterback Drew Allar suffered a season-ending injury that will also cut short his college career.

Kraft recently addressed the media. There, he became a bit emotional as he shared some thoughts on Allar, his injury, and what he meant to Penn State during his time there.

“He is a hell of a young man,” Pat Kraft said. “He puts up with a lot of crap, and I get it. NIL era. He’s still a kid. There’s not a negative word that comes up when I think of Drew. I apologize, but you’ve got to understand, these kids work so hard and they love Penn State so much, and I get to see them in a different way than you all do. I get to see them as, like I said, my children.”

Drew Allar first came to Penn State as a five-star recruit in the Class of 2022. A native of Medina, Ohio, he was the 28th-ranked recruit overall and the third-ranked quarterback in that recruiting class. Since the start of the 2023 season, Allar has been the starting quarterback for the Nittany Lions. That included leading Penn State to the semifinal of the College Football Playoff a season ago and skipping on the NFL to return and try to build on that run.

Allar’s college career ended with him playing in 45 games. During that time, he completed 63.2 percent of his passes for 7,402 and 61 touchdowns to just 13 interceptions. That’s 164.5 yards per game, a number that took a slight hit by appearing in 10 games as a freshman, but largely in mop-up duties. He also rushed for 732 yards and another 12 touchdowns in his career.

“It’s so much bigger than how many touchdowns — I get it,” Kraft said. “I’m not trying to lie to y’all. We all know we want to win. He wants to win in the worst way. He’s working his hardest to do that, and to see it end that way, you never want that.”

Drew Allar was injured late in the loss to Northwestern. He scrambled, trying to make something happen while hoping to pull off a come-from-behind win, but was tackled by the ankle and was seen limping off the field. It’s unclear exactly what the injury was that he suffered. However, James Franklin quickly announced he was done for the season in his postgame press conference.

In the Northwestern game, Drew Allar was replaced by backup Ethan Grunkemeyer. He will presumably take over starting duties next week when the Nittany Lions take on the Iowa Hawkeyes.