Penn State coach James Franklin address Drew Allar's role again as Lions prepare for Northwestern

On3 imageby:Greg Pickel09/27/22

GregPickel

Penn State starts the October portion of its schedule on Saturday when Northwestern visits. The month may be changing, but the Lions’ quarterback conversation continues just as it did before the opener.

Head coach James Franklin was asked on Tuesday about the Lions wanting to play freshman Drew Allar in the second quarter against Ohio and Central Michigan. That did not happen, of course. But, could that be the plan against the Wildcats? Time will tell.

“We would love to be able to [play Allar] again this week,” Franklin said. “We have not talked about our strategy this week yet [because] we always will do that as a coaching staff first, and then obviously talk to the players about what our approach would be before I would make any announcements in the public or with the media.

“Got a ton of respect for Northwestern. And, most importantly, we got to find a way to to be 1-0 this week.”

Laying out how Clifford and Allar have performed so far for Penn State

All of Allar’s opportunities so far at Penn State have come after halftime. However, how the Lions decide when to use him changes week-to-week and even in game.

“We could have a very similar discussion about how we’re going to rotate [at other positions],” Franklin said. “I can go on and on kind of at every position on both sides of the ball. I think the more experience that we can get for guys; [Drew’s] situation is probably a little bit different because he just hasn’t played college football as much.

“But the more experience that we can gain and allow those guys to get the better; we fortunate [that] Sean Clifford and the offense, and the coaches, and the defense, have allowed us to be in a situation where we’ve been able to get them time in every game. And not just not just Drew, but [Christian Veilleux] as well.

Clifford has completed 64 percent of his passes to start his final season at Penn State. He’s thrown for 890 yards and eight touchdowns compared to one interception. Allar, then, has played 47 snaps over four weeks. He’s completed 12 of 19 passes (63 percent) for 163 yards and two touchdowns. A former five-star recruit, he was On3’s top-rated quarterback in the Class of 2023. And, he’ll continue to be used moving forward just as many of his classmates will. How often and when, though, will fluxuate.

“Most importantly, we’re getting the guys in the game a little bit earlier than maybe we had in the past,” Franklin said. “That is really putting a priority on creating depth,.

“That is based on previous experiences, [and] that is what I think we need to do in 2022 with making sure that as many guys in the locker room feel like they’re getting opportunities.

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