James Franklin explains how Penn State is managing Drew Allar hype after Week 1

Drew Allar delivered in his first career start for Penn State last Saturday, helping the Nittany Lions defeat West Virginia 38-15 behind an impressive debut performance.

There’s no doubt that Allar’s immediate success will now come with new hype and expectations, and heading into their Week 2 matchup against Delaware, head coach James Franklin spoke about managing that hype surrounding his young, potential rising star quarterback.

“You guys have gotten the chance to see him last year and then a little bit in practice so you’re getting to see him kind of more extensively now and forming your opinions. We’ve kind of felt this way for a while, that he had a chance to play really well for us and be the type of quarterback that people would be excited about, that his teammates would believe in,” Franklin said. “And really that room as a whole, I think you guys also got a chance to see it’s gonna look different, but that Beau (Pribula) has a chance to be a really talented quarterback as well for us.”

The expectations were high for Allar, rated a five-star prospect out of high school and ranked the No. 3 quarterback in the nation for his 2022 recruiting class according to On3’s Industry Ranking. He showed flashes of his potential in his true freshman season in his limited snaps, but put it fully on display last Saturday by torching the Mountaineers’ defense.

“So I think it’s good, it’s needed and the thing that’s promising to me is there’s some guys that are super talented but they don’t work like that. They don’t live it the way he does. So to me until he continues to do it game after game and stack days it’s still somewhat unproven,” Franklin said. “But it gives me comfort as the head coach with an offensive background to watch him and his habits and how he approaches it to feel like he’s got a chance to play at a high level on a consistent basis.”

Allar looked more like a seasoned veteran than a true sophomore, competing 21 of his 29 pass attempts for 325 yards and three touchdown passes in his debut. But Franklin believes that with Allar and his entire team, consistency will be the key moving forward.

“I showed a film to the team today before coming out and it was talking about guys like Tom Brady and guys like Michael Jordan and LeBron (James) who not only had successful careers, but did it for 10, 20 plus years,” Franklin said. “And Tiger Woods and how hard that is to do. So it’s a great message about consistency and I think that’s really what we’re all trying to do in college football is how do you teach young people, college players, and college teams how to practice and how to play on a consistent level and that’s our challenge right now.”

Given their roster talent and Week 1 showing, there’s no doubt the Nittany Lions can be a good team. But the biggest question in State College is can Franklin and his potential prodigy at quarterback make them great this season.

“We practice good, we practice like a really good football team. Are we practicing yet and displaying the habits and behaviors of a great or elite team? And that’s a challenge for me and the coaching staff and the leaders,” Franklin concluded.