PASADENA, Calif. -- An added benefit of Penn State making it to the Rose was the media getting a chance to interview freshman quarterback Drew Allar, since every single player on the roster had to be made available to the press on Rose Bowl media day Saturday.
Typically, for such a hyped freshman, we wouldn't hear from a guy like Allar until the following spring at the Blue-White Game. So, in this setting just outside Rose Bowl Stadium, there were throngs of reporters lining up to hear, for the first time, the phenom quarterback prospect discuss his freshman season and what he expects from himself going forward.
The most important thing Penn State fans need to know about Allar is that your expectations of him, no matter how high, probably aren't high enough.
"The expectations are cool, but nobody has higher expectations for me than myself, just because I have a lot of goals and aspirations I want to achieve throughout my life," Allar said.
"I'm just super excited that I came here," last year's No. 1 QB recruit in the nation added, "and I feel like this place can really help all of us achieve our goals and aspirations."
We'll get to the sheer football stuff in a bit.
What's most interesting to me -- and a topic that I probed with Allar during his first media availability -- is this concept:
Is he ready for everything that's about to come his way as Penn State's starting quarterback, when he takes the reins from Sean Clifford following Monday's Rose Bowl?
That includes everything from proving himself on the field, to being able to handle anything and everything off the field -- fans, media, hype, expectations, projections, all of it.
My question was: This is the largest alumni fan base in the country. There's gonna be tons of eyes on you. If you do well, it's awesome. If you don't, are you ready for all of it to be the Penn State quarterback with everything that comes with that? How do you prepare for all these things?
"From my standpoint, I'm just preparing and learning from Sean, just because, I mean, it's happening right in front of me," Allar said. "With Sean, I've seen what he's gone through.
"I followed him when I was in high school, just because he's from Cincinnati, Ohio, so just being an Ohio kid. I've always known who Sean is since he's been here. I think just learning from him is super important to me just because of how well and how nice he's been to all of us in the (quarterback) room and how much he's really helped us grow. And I couldn't have asked for a better mentor with him."
Allar, no doubt, has seen Clifford be praised and also heavily criticized at times, so there's gotta be value in that for the young quarterback. At the same time, neither Clifford nor any other quarterback in Penn State history came into his college career with as much hype and expectations as Allar, meaning the bar is so incredibly high for him.
Is he ready for all of that?
How can any quarterback fully prepare himself to be ready for all of that until, you know, he actually goes through it.
I asked James Franklin exactly that and if Allar is ready for what's about to happen to him in the coming years.
"Well, he's very level," Franklin said. "His personality is very level. I would say in a lot of ways, Sean is probably more emotional. Sean has been more level this year than maybe in years past. I just think that's kind of how Drew is wired in general. I do think the amount of reps and experience that we were able to get him this year helps.
"But until you're truly sitting in that seat, you never truly know. It's like being a head coach. Everybody thinks they know exactly what type of head coach you're going to be until you truly sit in that seat. Same thing at middle linebacker and so on.
"The experience we were able to get him this year has been really valuable. But until he truly sits in that seat, that's when we'll all know."
Allar did get a lot of experience this season for a true freshman quarterback, playing in nine games. He completed 35 of 59 passes (59.3 percent) for 344 yards with four TDs and no interceptions.
But even though Allar did play a good bit backing up Clifford, there are MANY Penn State fans and media members who believe he should have played a whole lot more. There were a lot of calls for switching to Allar after the Lions lost for the second time, with the prevailing notion being that getting him as much experience as possible would benefit the program more in the future than continuing to play Clifford.
Now, Clifford did lead the team to a 10-2 finish and berth in the Rose Bowl, so there's tremendous value in all of that. Still, there's also a strong feeling among many that, given how weak the closing schedule was, Allar could have started and perhaps still have led the team to this 10-2 record and Rose Bowl while also gaining more valuable experience.
Allar gave no indication of being disappointed in any way about not playing more.
"Definitely glad I was able to get those opportunities, just because the more experience you get in anything just like in life, you're gonna get better at it and you're just gonna get more comfortable at it," Allar said. "So I'm definitely glad I was able to play as much as I did. And I'm glad how the season turned out so far."
It became clear early on that Allar was poised when he get into games and in no way overwhelmed by the speed of the college game. He said he's glad he enrolled early, which helped his maturation process.
And what were the biggest benefits of seeing so much game action?
"I would definitely say the speed of the game and just preparing each week for a different defense, because obviously like every defense, we're going to have a different game plan to attack," Allar said. "So, I think just the experience of that, just being able to sort things out on my own.
"I would say (the game slowed down) just because I've been here since whatever January of last year, so spring ball was definitely a lot faster for me. And just the more practice reps I got and the more game reps I got, I felt more and more comfortable in that."
The biggest difference between high school and college ball?
"I would just say probably protections, just because in high school ... not too in depth in protections," he said. "So you don't see that many defenses. Going against our defense every day and spring ball and in the summer really helped me grow just because they present so many different fronts and coverages."
Time and time again during his media session, Allar mentioned Clifford and how much he's learned from the veteran this season.
And really, that could end up being one of the most important aspects of Clifford's legacy.
We all know Clifford has been an average quarterback on the field. But he is a terrific leader off the field for the program, and with a prized young quarterback in Allar coming in, the Lions needed someone who could help show him everything he'd need to learn be the starter at Penn State.
That plan played out perfectly for Franklin.
"I would just say how to be a starter," Allar said of what he learned from Clifford.
"He's started here for four years, and he's seen a lot of things, he's done a lot of things here, and I think just from his standpoint of how he prepares really helped me when I did get in the game. He was always there for me and Beau (Pribula) and CV (Christian Veilleux). So, I feel like Sean has been a great mentor to all of us in the room, and I'm super glad I was here to be able to experience it."
Now, for as much appreciation as Allar has for Clifford, it doesn't change the fact that Allar still could have benefited much more if the decision would have been made to switch quarterbacks.
Allar was asked if he was aware there was that much sentiment in the fan base to make a move.
"Not really," he said, "because we go through a lot as a team together, and a lot of people don't see the sacrifices and the time we put into this game. I mean, it's a great opportunity for all of us, but we take it like a job like anything else. People don't see the time and investment that we all put in, starting from winter workouts of last winter up until this point.
"So, I feel like Sean did a great job with everything that was thrown his way this year. And I'm super excited for him."
That is called being a great teammate. And at the end of the day, that's also a big part of what Allar learned this year.
This will be his team the next couple of years. He will be QB1, the face of the franchise. He will be the guy everyone believes could possibly lead Penn State to national championship contention.
Everything Allar has been through would lead us to believe that, yes, he will be ready for all that's about to come his way.
But, as Franklin pointed out, there's simply no way to truly know until Allar actually finds himself in that role.
