Penn State Lost, Drew Allar Didn’t Complete a Pass to a Receiver, and James Franklin Just Can’t Win the Big One

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish won the battle for Northeast Philadelphia with a late field goal to sink Penn State in Miami. Final score: Domers 27, Nitters 24. PSU gave away a 10-point lead, regained the lead, blew it again, and then Drew Allar threw an absolute backbreaker of a pick to set up ND’s kick:

Notre Dame picks off Drew Allar late in the fourth pic.twitter.com/F0SZvM5fFa

— ESPN (@espn) January 10, 2025

You can normally boil these Penn State losses down to one or two moments, or a singular boneheaded James Franklin decision, but there was a ton going on here.

Of note:

• Allar did not complete a single pass to a receiver in this game. He finished 12 for 23 for 135 yards and an interception, and all 12 of those passes were caught by the tight ends and running backs.
• They REALLY could have used seven points on that first scoring drive, but Allar had a wide-open Nick Singleton on third down and threw it at his knees, which resulted in a field goal instead.
• There was a sequence later when Allar had Singleton open down the sideline and overthrew him. That would have gone for 50+.
• One of Notre Dame’s linemen took an obvious cheap shop on Abdul Carter, who was laying on the ground after a Riley Leonard pass had already been thrown. The broadcast barely even mentioned it and we only got one replay. He was also being held on every other play.
• As much as Franklin stinks, I’m not sure there’s much in this game to get on him for. That decision to go on 4th and 2 was the catalyst for the first touchdown and the 10-point lead. Penn State came out of halftime flat, and if you want to pin that on him, sure, but if his guys go out and make one more play in this game, they’re in the Natty. If the corner doesn’t fall on his butt and the safety doesn’t get juked out of his pants in the open field (tough play to make), then it’s a different game. They ran the ball 42 times and Andy K called a pretty good game. I think we’re nitpicking if we’re trying to pin this thing squarely on the head coach and OC as some catch-all “it starts and ends with them” kind of thing.
• Greg McElroy mushed Allar when he was talking all about how he doesn’t put the ball in harm’s way. Next thing you know – bam, interception, field goal, ball game. Terrible throw from a guy who should know better.
• The irony should be not lost on anyone that Penn State’s season ended with Allar throwing a lateral out of bounds. It’s a desperation heave, of course, but a perfect snapshot of the game itself.

There was a lot of talk going into the season about the downfield passing game, and whether or not it improved. It did, but not enough, because that was ultimately their undoing, albeit after going all the way to the semifinal. I remember the discussion like it was yesterday, all of the WVU/Penn State previews that were written, talking about the relatively unheralded receiving corps and how Allar just didn’t have the weapons they thought he needed. Tyler Warren and a power running game was good enough, and put 24 points on the board against Notre Dame. Only Louisville and Southern Cal scored that many points against a high-quality Irish defense. Knowing how good Penn State’s D is, 24 points should have gotten the job done, and it may have, had the execution been just a little bit better.

People will put this on Franklin, and I get it. I’m not out here defending the dude, and he’s obviously the one responsible for putting together that receiver group and coaching up the team, along with myriad assistants. But this thing was razor-close in the second half and could have gone either way. This wasn’t the classic “James Franklin makes a dumbass decision” type of thing that we’re used to. It was a back-and-forth game and they just came up short.

Regardless, Franklin is now 1-15 vs. AP top 5 opponents during his PSU tenure. And Penn State is what they were last year and year before, a great team that just can’t break through the top-four ceiling to become elite. Now the season is over. It’ll be the Domers vs. Ohio State or Texas in the Natty. Hook ’em!

The post Penn State Lost, Drew Allar Didn’t Complete a Pass to a Receiver, and James Franklin Just Can’t Win the Big One appeared first on Crossing Broad.