Drew Allar Report Card As Penn State Football Edges Out Bowling Green

Penn State Football struggled mightily to move to 2-0 against Bowling Green Saturday, squeaking by the Falcons 34-27.

After the Bowling Green offense jumped out to an early lead, quarterback Drew Allar and Penn State’s offense were forced to play from behind for most of the game.

Credit to Bowling Green’s exceptional gameplan in the first half, the Nittany Lions did not hold a lead in the game until partway through the third quarter.

However, after taking the lead, the Nittany Lions were able to make enough plays on defense to secure the win and survive and advance.

Here is a breakdown of how quarterback Drew Allar handled the adversity Saturday.

Drew Allar Report Card from Penn State Football vs. Bowling Green

Despite Penn State playing from behind the eight ball most of the game after the defense surrendered 24 first-half points, Allar played pretty well against the Falcons Saturday.

Allar finished the game 13 for 20 passing for 204 yards, with two touchdown passes and one interception. Allar also rushed for the Nittany Lions first touchdown on the day to tie the score at 7-7 in the first quarter.

Once again, on Saturday we saw a poised, confident Allar making quick decisive decisions, even under more pressure than he saw in week one against West Virginia.

For whatever reason, Penn State’s offensive line did not keep Bowling Green out of the backfield the way the line did against the Mountaineers.

While Penn State rotated eight offensive linemen throughout the day, the Falcons dialed up the pressure on Allar, trying to make him uncomfortable in the pocket. For the most part, however, it didn’t work despite the pressure. Allar was poised and confidence, moving around in the pocket and escaping the pass rush with his eyes downfield.

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In one of the most impressive plays that didn’t count of the day, Allar avoided the pass rush, moved out of the pocket, and found Kaytron Allen downfield with a very impressive throw to seemingly convert a first down.

However, after review, the officials determined that Allen bobbled the catch and called the pass incomplete. Even though it did not count, Allar’s scramble and throw to find Allen were very impressive under pressure.

A recurring theme on the day was Allar not receiving help (outside of the running game) despite playing pretty well. In the game, Penn State had an offensive pass interference penalty to negate a touchdown pass, a key drop on third down, and a holding penalty to negate a 16-yard first down pass.

Despite all of the good, Allar did have two plays that will not be fun to watch back in film review Sunday. On Penn State’s first offensive drive of the second half, down four points at the time, Allar was sacked on third and eight for a loss of 23 yards.

Allar was immediately under pressure after receiving the snap, but instead of taking a sack early in the play, Allar scrambled around avoiding the rush and running backwards for a loss of 23 yards and allowing Bowling Green much better field position after the punt. The second negative was the interception at the end of the third quarter. Up 27-24 at the time and trying to score again before the end of the third quarter, Allar made a puzzling decision to float a ball into the endzone for Harrison Wallace III on first and 10 from the 12 yard line. The ball hung up in the endzone, making it an easy interception for Bowling Green’s Jacorey Benjamin and leaving points on the field for Penn State.

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Drew Allar Grade vs. Bowling Green

Overall, Allar played pretty well despite the close game to a MAC opponent. With a few plays going a different direction (the penalties on the long throws and the touchdown negated by the penalty) the Allar’s stat line and the score would have looked much different for Penn State. Allar and the offense need to be better against higher quality opponents, but Penn State got through the week with a win and will have a bye week to take stock and improve before facing Kent State

GRADE: B

MORE: Game Balls from Penn State’s Victory Over Bowling Green

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