Into the Allar-verse

Closing in on the backend of a “two-game season,” Penn State can rewrite or reinforce the emerging narrative about the team versus the Terrapins.

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Did we just witness a turning point in Penn State football history?

Some readers seemed to really enjoy my slipping in a reference to simulation theory at the very end of last week’s column, so let’s start things out this time around with another popular artifact of theoretical physics for the everyman and invoke the concept of many worlds: Somewhere in the multiverse, there is a timeline where the closing sequence of last week’s Indiana game is destined for enshrinement in program lore.

Back in Beaver Stadium a week removed from a devastating loss to Ohio State in Columbus that all but crushed their playoff hopes and touched off a week of national criticism, the Nittany Lions led lowly Indiana by only three points late in the game. After setting an NCAA record with the most passing attempts prior to throwing his first interception, Drew Allar appeared to bury his struggling team by finding the worst possible moment, at the worst part of the field, against the worst possible opponent to toss that fateful pick.

Granted a reprieve by the defense holding IU to a field goal (with an assist from downright cowardly playcalling by Tom Allen), Allar proceeded to finally uncork the long-awaited, endlessly-debated deep strike to his top target KeAndre Lambert-Smith, winning the game for Penn State. As we sit here this week, waiting to see what comes next, these consecutive plays linking together the most two most discussed aspects of Drew’s game – his turnover-free passing streak and conspicuous lack of success on the long ball – feels consequential.

In the universe where I hope we’re all living, the act of throwing that interception unlocked something in Penn State’s cherubic would-be phenom; getting it out of the way jarred loose some mental blockage that was holding the former top recruit back and preventing him from realizing his full potential. History will record that Allar committing a turnover in a high-leverage spot only to respond with the subsequent game-winning bomb touched off his evolution into an elite quarterback, and those two moments coming on back-to-back drives and resulting in Penn State avoiding a ruinous home loss will become the stuff of legend.

Of course, there is another reality where the remainder of Penn State’s season ends up being defined more by its difficulty in putting away one of the worst teams in college football. It cannot be overstated how bad Indiana’s football team is. Offer whatever platitudes you like about hangovers and distractions and “Ohio State beating you twice,” there is really no valid excuse for how poorly the Nittany Lions performed, no matter how much their head coach may not like it.

In his weekly post-practice press availability, Coach Franklin suggested that Penn State receives unique criticism and scrutiny for struggling against inferior competition.

“There’s teams that are ranked Number One, Number Two, Number Three in the country, and they struggle to get a win, and no one talks about that. But when we struggle to get a win, or it’s not as pretty, then everybody, like, is overly concerned, in my opinion.”

I am at a total loss as to his motivations in staking out such an oddball position (why even bring this up at all?), but it is demonstrably false.

The irony is that Franklin seemed to attribute this (imaginary) phenomenon to the tunnel vision fans and media have for Nittany Lions football. To whatever extent beat reporters and Penn State’s devoted followers fixate on the home squad, I am sure we all pay more attention to how the college football world is talking about the rest of the Top 25 than our coaches do (as it should be!). As a result, you cannot blame James for missing the way Georgia got harangued for struggling with Auburn, Washington earned scrutiny for pedestrian outings against ASU and Stanford, Ohio State is questioned consistently for looking less than dominant, and (my favorite) even mighty Alabama continues to get clowned for a brutal showing against USF that happened in mid-September.

There is no unfair double standard. You get what you earn.

It is the nature of this year’s Big Ten that nearly all conference games are high-risk, low-reward propositions. Soundly beat a Northwestern, Indiana, Minnesota, or Maryland and all you have accomplished is exactly what is expected, no big deal. There is no credit or glory to be had in dispensing with some of the most uninspiring foes in the sport. On the other hand, if you struggle or – God forbid – lose the game, then the world is ending. The top B1G teams spend most weeks of the regular season with considerably more to lose than gain.

In that respect, I suppose Penn State is fortunate to enter this Saturday’s contest in College Park with something to prove. After struggling mightily to defeat a putrid Hoosiers squad in Beaver Stadium and being consistently dogged all season by questions about the offensive scheme and potency of the running game, the Lions could calm some nerves and inject a tad more intrigue into next week’s Michigan game with some offensive efficiency and/or explosiveness.

Where Franklin is correct is that it doesn’t really matter all that much how you win these games as long as you do win them. A week from now, once the Michigan game has gone final, and no matter the result, nobody will care how Penn State played against Indiana. The same can be said of this meeting with Maryland. As we all anticipated heading into it, 2023 has indeed turned into a “two-game season” where getting that notch in the win column during the other 10 games is the bare-minimum cost of doing business. Beyond that baseline requirement, the best the Nittany Lions can manage this week is to boost confidence – theirs and ours. So no, Penn State won’t earn much in the way of national acclaim for beating up the imploding Terrapins, but when it comes to convincing anyone (inside the Lasch Building and beyond) that we still have a chance to do something special this season, it’s now or never.

For all of us to end up on that good timeline, the one where we advance into Wolverines Week foolishly allowing hope to creep back in, Drew Allar must lead the way. If the “baby-faced killer’s” late-game spark last week can in turn fire up the offense this weekend, it just might signal the start of something good.

Three for the Road:

1. If you find the time before kickoff or after, check out this week’s Let’s Talk Penn State Podcast. Always a light-hearted diversion from the usual analysis-heavy fare that’s out there, Steve and Tim brought on Cory Giger to talk about his brush with national fame after asking James Franklin about throwing the deep ball in a presser a few weeks ago. Regardless of your opinions on Giger, that exchange became part of the story of this season, and it was interesting to get some unique background and perspective on it.

2. Let me just say this about the Michigan sign-stealing stuff: The Big Ten isn’t bound by any NCAA rules and regulations (which are all basically pretend anyway). At the absolute bare minimum, the conference needs to come out and make some kind of public statement soon, even it’s just, “we are aware and looking into it.” The radio silence makes the conference look like the same crackerjack operation that bungled cancellation of the 2020 season.

3. I’m going to keep beating the drum for Kaden Saunders and some of the other young receivers to get more run. Coach Franklin will insist that fans who want to see more of Saunders, Evans, Clifford, et al don’t get to see them missing assignments and blocks in practice. That may be so, but we DO get to see the product on the field each week, and it’s not exactly lighting the world on fire. I say it’s time to give the kids some snaps and see if maybe one of them has a touch of Allen Iverson’s Disease.