Allar hit on 60% of his passes against Ohio State after just 42.9% last year
It's definitely better than it was last year. The WRs still are a problem--none of us can dispute that
Drew Allar is REALLY GOOD
- Thread starter TheWizardofCamelot
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It's definitely better than it was last year. The WRs still are a problem--none of us can dispute that
It's just stunning to me that we can't find a go to WR from this group.
Wallace. 4*
Fleming. 5*
Evans. 3*
Clifford. 4*
Ivey. 4*
Flowers. 4*
Johnson. 3*
Three 3* freshmen
We'll never know what happened with KLS. 4* Taylor left the program. What happened to Saunders? He was a 4* WR but has been out since being limited to punt return duty early in the season. And nothing except Fleming from the portal.
I think the offense has improved. Johnson & Warren weren't the same threat at WR last year as Warren is this year. KLS is gone but Wallace is healthy.
But yes, the competition isn't as good.
The offense has definitely improved except for the WR position. The WR position has been a known area of weakness for at least 2 years. Consecutive years of weak recruiting and disastrous WR portal evaluations (McClain, Cephas, Fleming) have severely limited Penn State’s offense.
Matters could have been a lot worse were it not for a very weak schedule against some of the worse defenses in the country.
To show you, how little you can rely on past players. I heard LaVar arrington about a week ago say that Penn state's receivers were good on his radio show.
Spinning it's wheels? The 2022 team won the Rose Bowl with Clifford at the helm. WTAF are you talking about?
I love Drew but playing Clifford in 2022 was absolutely the correct thing.
"Rose Bowl Champions" literally means nothing to anyone except some of the fans of the team that won. If you asked 100 fans of other college football teams who won that game, I doubt even 1 would know.
And you have no evidence that the result wouldn't have been the same for that year with Drew playing significantly more snaps, which would have benefited him and the entire offense beginning in 2023.
PSU probably wouldn't even had a winning record if Allar had been the starting qb in 2022. A Clifford led PSU team was beating a playoff bound OSU team midway through the fourth quarter and that offense scored over 30 points in that game. If PSU hangs on to win that game, it possibly could've made the playoffs. No program that considered itself to be a contender would've started a freshman qb with no experience over a qb with the experience that Clifford had.
Also, you may look down on a Rose Bowl victory and 11 win season, but it still was an accomplishment in the era of the four team playoff. Otherwise, why should PSU even had played the season if it was worthless unless they were one of four out of 132 D-1 teams that were selected for the playoffs?
Also, what happened in 2022 is moot now in regards to Allar, because he's now started 23 games in his career and is a veteran. With that said, is he better now than in 2023? Yes. However, he still needs to get better and isn't blameless for the wide receivers' lack of production.
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I'm sure that even Marvin Harrison, Jr. dropped a pass in his career, as well as Jerry Rice, Calvin Johnson, Ja' marr Chase, etc. God, in the Ravens-Steelers game yesterday, first round draft choice Flowers dropped a pass that hit right in the chest late in the fourth quarter of an eight point game.
I didn't realize that I was supposed to care about moral victories in addition to bowl games where players opt out!
Indiana, Maryland, Rutgers, Michigan State, and Utah: Those were the games after Ohio State in 2022, and the average margin of victory was 28, with none less than 14 points. I am sure Drew would have done a fine job.
PSU barely beat Indiana last season at home with Allar as the starter, and was struggling to beat Rutgers at home when Pribula came in to replace him when he got hurt. By the way, Allar played much of the second half in the 2022 Rutgers game.
Like I said, it's a moot issue now because Allar has started every single game in the last two seasons and he should have all of the experience that he needs and seen everything that defenses can throw at him.
Whatever, dude. Are you Sean and Liam's mom? Anyone with a brain knows that experience is the most important thing for a QB, and that's why Drew has improved so dramatically since the USC game.
He has enough experience NOW; I no longer care about what happened in 2022, but only whether Allar can win two more games to get PSU into the playoffs. Also, he did play in several games in 2022. He probably wasn't ready to be the starter in 2022 and could've been destroyed mentally and physically.
Like I said, do you believe that UGA or Bama or OSU would've made a different decision? In 2022, UGA started Stetson Bennett over Carson Beck? Based on what you're saying, they should've started Beck over Bennett just so he could've gained experience for the 2023 season.
In 2022, PSU obviously believed that it had a legitmate shot to win the Big 10 and go to the playoffs, which never was going to happen with a starting a qb with no experience. How do you think the game at Auburn would've gone with Allar at qb?
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Did I ever say he should start snap 1 game 1? Or are you making that part up to be dramatic?
But actually we saw enough from Drew during game 1 at night at Purdue to know that he had some skills. We also knew that Clifford had a very well-defined ceiling, and after the Ohio State loss, it would have been better for the future of the program, especially for Drew's development, to get Drew significantly more snaps, with very little risk.
But instead Franklin and Clifford were worried about Sean setting individual records and making it to the NFL. So, given how it played out, it honestly might have been better for Drew to Redshirt in 2022, but Coach screwed the pooch all around on that one! Drew literally went in just to hand off in some games, which is a travesty.
I don't really agree. Allar is 20 years old. Will Howard, for example, is 23. Both Bo Nix and Michael Penix were 23 last year while leading Washington. Sean Clifford, a much better QB as a senior, was 24. In addition, Allar came from a fairly middle-of-the-road public school (Medina High School). Clifford came from perennial state champion contender St. Xavier (currently in the quarter-finals). Age and experience are huge factors at these young ages. When you consider a kid 20 versus age 22, you are talking about a 10% difference in life experiences. In the old days, Allar would be a redshirt Sophomore. IMHO, he still has a huge upside and I hope he stays for another season.
In the meantime, with a marginal set of WRs and a run-heavy offense..
231 attempts with 166 completions for just under 72% completion average. And if you feel most of his passes are short, the team is averaging just under 10 yards per completion (9.8). 16 tuddies and 5 interceptions. His rating this year is 172.3 while it was 136.9 last year. Our best two WRs by total yards have been Wallace with 533 and Clifford with 266 (Evans has 238 so is right behind).
I looked up Auburn, just for kicks. Their QB is 23-year-old Payton Thorne who is now starting for this fourth year in a row between Michigan State and Auburn. His top WR is Keandre Lambert Smith who has 40 receptions and 761 yards.
What? You are diminshing the important of the Rose Bowl? You must be very, very young.
And you have no evidence that PSU wouldn't have gone 7-6 with Drew starting every game. And that lack of success could have bred frustration and hindered his development.
He got great experience (including meaningful reps) in 2022. That's part of what got him to the (very good) place that is today.
No one diminishing bowl games is "very, very young"
The Rose Bowl in the opt-out era means very little unless it's part of the playoff
Try to follow along: I never, EVER said that Drew should have started every 2022 game from day 1. Should he have started after Ohio State? 100%. And the chances of us dropping 4 of Indiana, Maryland, Rutgers, Michigan State, and Utah (or alternate bowl opponent) in your dramatic scenario are low.
Yeah, but he did it with 5 seasons and a 12 game regular season schedule rather than 11 game regular season.
Yeah, stats like career passing yards are great but there are a lot of other variables. Probably not too many people are taking Evan Royster over Barkley, LJ, Ki-Jana, Warner, etc.
if you hit the pause button and then scroll up through the play in slow motion, this is pretty impressive.
- you can see 15 watching Warren
- you can see the Purdue S, 11, watching Warren
- Warren breaks open over the middle, Pudue's #11 breaks in to cover him abandoning the deep right side of the field
- Allar, running to his right, sees this and moves his focus from an open Warren to Wallace
- Allar gathers himself a bit, at the 47 (52 yards from the end zone) and throws a rope to Wallace 3/4 yards deep.
- That is 55/56 yards in the air, not fully gathers onto his feet, on a rope
I was referring to the improvement since the OSU game 3 weeks ago. Allar and the offense have undoubtedly improved since last season.
man that is wild, if Warren settles into that hole in the zone or just goes straight up the seam after his initial cut Drew can hit him for the touchdown instead
Agree and that's why it's impossible to compare Allar to Howard (OSU) or Gabriel (Oregon) who have top-notch WRs to throw to
Wow, didn't realize he was that young! He should definitely come back next year, which would give him a better chance at a successful NFL career. He comes out this year, he'll go to a crap team that will be tempted to start him when he's only 21.
