5 key takeaways from Penn State QB Drew Allar on O-line, Nittany Lions defense and more (2024)

Last week, coach James Franklin discussed how practices have been "more competitive" between the offense and the defense so far in fall camp. He was still looking for consistency on both sides, but oftentimes, periods were coming down to the final few reps to determine a winner. The defense, though, is making things difficult for Allar and the offense at times.

"Obviously, we're going against one of the best defenses in the country," Allar said. "I think that's making us a lot better, but I also think through the first 11 practices, that we're getting a lot more consistent, and I think as an offense, we're learning how to bounce back quicker because obviously sometimes the defense is going to get us because they're just talented. But I think we're doing a really good job on offense of building that leadership and just learning how to bounce back quicker."

At the end of his media session, Allar ramped up the praise even more.

"Honestly, our D-line just makes it like a living hell on us as quarterbacks and an offensive line just with how much talent and depth they have up front," Allar said. "But we wouldn't rather have it any other way just with the amount of pressure they apply and just how good they are."

The Penn State defense was one of the best in the country last season, and despite losing two starting defensive ends, a starting linebacker and three starting cornerbacks, along with defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, there's still plenty of excitement and optimism for what this group can accomplish under new coordinator Tom Allen.

Allar singled out a newcomer at cornerback in Georgia transfer A.J. Harris before highlighting returner Cam Miller when discussing who has made an impression on him in the secondary.

"Honestly, I didn't know A.J. Harris was a grade below me," Allar said. "I thought he was my grade. That's just kind of how his approach is and how he carries himself. A.J. is a different cat, honestly, his approach to the game and just his technique overall. And then obviously you guys got Cam Miller. Fantastic. He's consistent as hell on this team. He's one of the hardest workers and one of the most consistent guys on this team."

Allar expects Penn State to build off of its experience from fall camp as it goes into the season.

Something interesting that Allar noted above early in his session and then returned to later on is the notion of "bouncing back" from adversity. At times last season, it appeared that the Penn State offense would get stuck when things weren't going right, and then it would snowball from there. The Ohio State and Michigan losses come to mind. The Indiana and Rutgers games stand out a bit, too, even though the Nittany Lions were ultimately able to find victory.

Allar and his teammates on offense are getting plenty of practice working through that with how the defense is playing this summer. It's been valuable experience for all parties, and Allar even acknowledged that it was an area he needed to improve upon.

"I think the biggest thing for us is learning how to bounce back when things don't go our way because you're going to have a bad play, bad series, but you can't have bad quarters and halves," Allar said. "I think we're doing a really good job of that right now as an offense of just bouncing back faster and learning how to wash the last play because honestly, that's a really hard skill to develop is washing that last play, whether good or bad.

"We talk about being a thermostat versus a thermometer, and I think as a quarterback room, we're doing a really good job of that when something doesn't go right, we're getting the guys back, rallied and ready to go.

"It's been paying off because in my first two years here, I don't think we really had that. Really, last year, just with me being a first-time starter, learning how to bounce back quicker was something I kind of struggled with because I kind of dwelled on things when things didn't go my way. I think I've done a better job of learning how to flush that and then just whenever I go back and watch the film."

Earlier this summer, Franklin discussed the need for Penn State to be at its best in its biggest games. Allar is a big part of that equation. If he can make strides there, then that sets things up well for Penn State to take a big step itself.

An easy way for Allar and the offense to improve? Get more reliability and playmaking out of the wide receiver corps. It sounds simple enough. The group made more notable subtractions — KeAndre Lambert-Smith (Auburn), Dante Cephas (Kansas State), Malik McClain (Arizona State), Malick Meiga (Coastal Carolina), Cristian Driver (Minnesota) and Carmelo Taylor are all gone — than additions, with Ohio State transfer Julian Fleming and a three-man freshman class joining the group. And even then, with Franklin's announcement that freshman Peter Gonzalez suffered a "long-term injury," the group took a blow.

But even with plenty of familiar faces back from last season's underachieving group, Allar laid out his "trust level" with his pass-catchers.

"It's really high," Allar said. "I think one of the best things we've been doing is meeting with the receivers more often. I think it just pays a lot of benefits to us as quarterbacks, building our confidence and vocal leadership, and then also with the receivers, them asking questions and them telling me, hey, this is what we're looking to do on this certain route versus this certain coverage or alignment. I think that's been really key and critical to our success so far in camp, and obviously, we're going to continue to build on it in season."

The feedback has been there. Safety KJ Winston said last week that wide receiver Harrison Wallace III is playing "off the charts." Freshman Tyseer Denmark has turned heads. Franklin highlighted both Wallace and redshirt junior classmate Liam Clifford as positives for the group. Allar agreed.

"With Liam and Tre, Tre's just been consistent," Allar said. "He's obviously very explosive as an athlete, and that's really showing on how he runs his routes, creating a lot of separation, and then Liam's just super dependable. You can kind of plug-and-play him anywhere, and he's a super smart receiver. Obviously, Sean's his older brother, and then he had that background of a quarterback, so he kind of has just more football savvy to him, and I think he's doing a really good job of sharing that with the whole room. He's really made the next step of just consistently making those tough catches and contested catches, just because that's going to be the difference sometimes. We're going to have to throw it into tight coverage, and the receivers are making plays."

Allar went on to shout out Fleming, redshirt sophom*ore Kaden Saunders and junior Omari Evans for their performance. The room as a whole, Allar said, is competitive, and it showed during a Monday practice period in 1-on-1s in the red zone.

"They made a lot of contested catches where DBs were draped all over their back and really good coverages and really good positions," Allar said. "The receivers fought and came down with the catches in the red zone where it's going to be critical in those situations."

The wide receivers have also seen Allar take some notable steps forward.

"It's been huge," Saunders told Lions247 at Penn State media day earlier this month. "We did a lot of throwing sessions and working on different things with the quarterbacks and him just growing as a leader as a whole, getting up in front of the offense, talking to us, showing us film. Same thing when the receivers watch film with the quarterbacks, he's up leading it all. So just him coming out of his shell even more, it's gonna be big for this team."

There's plenty of deserved excitement for what Kotelnicki can bring to Penn State, especially given what he accomplished at Kansas. He has more talent at his disposal. He just needs to unlock it in his scheme. Allar likes how it highlights different players on the offense.

"I think the thing I like about it most is just how multiple we are," Allar said. "It's pretty insane how many players that we can get the ball to. We have a lot of playmakers on this team and I think we do a really good job of getting our best playmakers the ball in space and creating distortion, which is all what Coach K's philosophy is about. I've been really impressed with that. I guess I can see the thought going into camp of how we want to do that, but to see it actually paying off right now is really good."

In response to a follow-up question about which players can benefit the most from the "distortion" Kotelnicki's offense creates, Allar mentioned running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen.

"In the run game, it can be hard to try to get those guys the ball in space and I think just the multiplicity of schemes that we're running in the run game right now is really cool," Allar said. "It's just opening up a lot of gaps, and I think the offensive line has done a tremendous job throughout this whole camp of creating that."

Allar feels he's grown his game under Kotelnicki. In terms of the run-pass option (RPO), Allar called Kotelnicki's rules "clear-cut" and "black-and-white." That's helping the entire offense play faster. And in turn, that could help Allar and Penn State find more explosive plays on offense.

As Penn State has developed depth in the trenches over the past few seasons, Franklin and offensive line coach Phil Trautweinhaven't hesitated to rotate multiple players at one position over the course of a game. And right now, it looks like the Nittany Lions will do more of that in 2024. On Tuesday, Franklin said he could see Penn State using eight offensive linemen — more than two tackles, three guards and two centers — over the course of a game.

Even if the talent and number of deserving players are there, those are still significant moving parts in front of Allar, especially when it comes to using multiple centers. But the quarterback didn't sound worried about any potential hiccups that come from that.

"I think the most important thing for me is I don't really notice it, to be honest," Allar said. "I know there's a lot of guys coming in and out, but there's no drop-off right now. I think at that position specifically, you need to have depth just because of how much physicalness there is in the trenches down there. They're doing a great job of just continuing to grow, continuing to play fast and physical. It's been really cool to see that. But yeah, I mean, I think the biggest thing is I don't notice when there's new linemen coming in."

Penn State is replacing three starters this offseason with left tackle Olu Fashanu (New York Jets), center Hunter Nourzad (Kansas City Chiefs) and right tackle Caedan Wallace (New England Patriots) now preparing for the NFL season.

But Allar offered unprompted praise for returning offensive lineman Vega Ioane, who split time with JB Nelson at left guard last season. Entering his redshirt sophom*ore season, Ioane is a potential breakout player for the Nittany Lions along the offensive line, and Allar sees hints at that happening.

"He's really stepping out of his shell," Allar said. "He's more of a quiet guy, but he's becoming one of the more vocal leaders on our team, and it's cool to see that progression for him just because he's earned everybody's respect in this program, and just to see him taking that next step in his game has been really cool to see. I think whenever he speaks, the whole team listens, and obviously, we're going to listen as an offense."

The offensive line was a question mark just a few years ago, but even with all of the turnover, there's still confidence in what it can accomplish, including from the quarterback it will be protecting.

Daniel Gallen covers Penn State for Lions247 and 247Sports. He can be reached at daniel.gallen@paramount.com. Follow Daniel on X at @danieljtgallen and Instagram at @bydanieljtgallen.