Drew Allar Reflects on Sudden End to Penn State Football Career

As is often the case with the game of football, it only took a second for Penn State quarterback Drew Allar’s life to totally change. Well, at least in the short term.

It was Week 6 of the college football season. Allar had gone down with a season-ending ankle injury in what was ultimately a Penn State loss vs. Northwestern. The next day, the school fired coach James Franklin amid the team’s 3–3 start.

Just like that, in one heartbreaking weekend, Allar lost his final season with the Nittany Lions, with whom he stayed after eyeing the pros last season, as well as his head coach, who had led the program for more than 10 years. Talk about a plan falling apart.

These days, though, things seem to be getting back on track.

In an article published Monday, Allar told ESPN that he is now in the middle of a “full recovery” and preparing for the 2026 NFL draft, confident he will become a “better version of myself” despite the possibly catastrophic setback that was his injury.

That said, however, he is still processing the way his time at Penn State (and Franklin’s time at Penn State) came to a close.

“It’s surreal,” Allar told ESPN’s Pete Thamel. “It doesn’t feel real to some extent. When everything happened with me, I was expecting coach to be here the rest of the way. He was with me the night that everything happened in hospital after the game. Since then, we’ve been trying to make the most of it, as much as we all wanted it to play out a different way.”

Despite the adversity, Allar hopes he can take something from the experience going forward.

“I think it’s how I’ve always looked at things,” he said. “Everything works out the way it’s supposed to. As much as this injury was not in my future plans, maybe it’s the best thing to happen to me—given me space and time to reflect and see the whole picture.”

Per ESPN, Allar finishes as PSU’s all-time leader in completion percentage among full-time starters (63.2%), third all-time in touchdown passes (61) and fourth all-time in yards (7,402).

Fresh off a big win over Nebraska in Week 13, the Nittany Lions and replacement quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer are next up against Rutgers on Saturday, Nov. 29.

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