Penn State's recruiting coup of landing Drew Allar in the 2022 class gave the Nittany Lions the big-time quarterback prospect with an arm to carry the program deep into the College Football Playoff for the first time in coach James Franklin's tenure.
Two seasons — one as a starter — into Allar's Penn State career, the impact of his unsteady play hit a pivotal mark for not only his Penn State career but in quarterback recruiting for the future.
The offensive struggles, including concerns about Allar's development but certainly not limited to it, led to Franklin firing offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich on Sunday.
It makes the development of Allar at the forefront of the next offensive coordinator hire, and how he progresses in the next year or two is tantamount to the Nittany Lions making a deep run in the expanded CFB Playoff.
It is how roster building and recruiting works, especially in an environment where fewer and fewer high-level prospects want to blaze their own trail and help build things and instead head to established programs — and quarterbacks are at the forefront of it.
And so, as Penn State delves into quarterback recruiting in the 2026 class and beyond — the No. 1 quarterback in '26, Julian Lewis, is already committed to USC — being able to hold Allar up as a high NFL Draft pick and someone who took Penn State to the top of the college football world would make recruiting the most important position in the sport markedly easier.
In speaking to the media Monday, Franklin made it clear how important Allar is in the future.
"I'm going to make sure that I'm in every one of the quarterback meetings with (grad assistant) Danny (O'Brien)," Franklin said.
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In looking at the past nine CFB Playoffs, the winning school's quarterback was a first-round NFL selection five times. Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones, Clemson's Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence and LSU's Joe Burrow were each picked on the first day of the draft.
Georgia's Stetson Bennett and Ohio State's Cardale Jones were fourth-round picks. The outlier was Alabama's Jake Coker, who was undrafted.
Among the quarterbacks who finished their careers at Penn State and were recruited by Franklin, Sean Clifford was the highest draft pick. He went in the fifth round to Green Bay this past spring. Trace McSorley was selected in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
The quiet knock from elite quarterbacks was that Penn State ran its quarterbacks too much — USC's Caleb Williams and Ohio State's Kyle McCord were both Penn State targets within the Nittany Lions' recruiting footprint but opted for offenses with far fewer designed quarterback runs — and a move away from the philosophy took place. It brought the desired result in landing Allar.
When Allar signed with the Nittany Lions, there were plenty of plaudits sent Penn State's way. In particular, the main narrative was that, in getting Allar — the No. 1 quarterback and No. 3 player in the 2022 class — Penn State finally had a big-armed, elite talent at quarterback to slay Michigan and Ohio State and reach the CFB Playoff. There remains time for that in the future, but when things do not go as expected — even early on — the pressure and attention increases exponentially, which is where things stand now.
Allar is 191 of 310 (61.7%) for 1,965 yards, 21 touchdowns and one interception this season. As a first-year starter, the surface of those statistics looks outstanding.
However, the litmus test at Penn State is Ohio State and Michigan, which is where the problems begin and narratives are set.
Those two losses are why the Nittany Lions are 8-2 and not involved in the CFB Playoff this season. And in those two games, Allar is 28 of 64 (43.8%) for 261 yards and two touchdowns — both of which came with the Nittany Lions trailing by two touchdowns and less than two minutes to play.
"We've got to do a better job of calling a game to allow our quarterback to get into rhythm," Franklin said following the 24-15 loss to Michigan. "That is critical. We've got to find easy completions for a quarterback to get into rhythm. That's what everybody does. We've got to do a good job of that."
Penn State's offense totaled 27 points in the losses to Ohio State (20-12 on Oct. 21) and Michigan, which is less than any other one game output this season, and it is foolish to place all of the blame at Allar. Penn State wanted a game-breaking receiver in the transfer portal, but did not land one, and its receivers are inconsistent getting open against defenses the ilk of Ohio State and Michigan.
So why does it matter so much for the future beyond Allar's time at Penn State?
Recruiting is as cut-throat as it gets in the world of college athletics. And in that world, wining big on the field coexists with winning big in recruiting.
Recruits pay attention to such things — especially quarterback recruits. They want to be developed and believe that they have a chance to be drafted in an early round. Elite recruits, particularly receivers, want to play with elite college quarterbacks.
Penn State had good quarterbacks this past decade in McSorley and Clifford, but it missed on a pair of big-time prospects in its recruiting wheelhouse in Williams and McCord.
That is what makes Allar's development so important.
It is still early in Allar's career at Penn State. There is a lot of time for development and to sell the message of "being the next Drew Allar" for Penn State on the recruiting trail.
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In order for that to happen, though, he needs to showcase those five-star traits in the big games.