Medina grad Drew Allar rises up Penn State's depth chart to No. 2

Penn State football coach James Franklin raised eyebrows Monday when he announced that Medina native Drew Allar will back up sixth-year senior quarterback Sean Clifford when the Nittany Lions open the season Thursday night at Purdue. Allar was widely expected to be the No. 3 behind returnee Christian Veilleux and likely redshirt, but those plans have changed. "When we take all of the information, coaches' opinions based on their gut and experience, data from everything we keep track of, that we feel like Drew has earned that opportunity in Week 1," Franklin said. "(Veilleux) was the third-string quarterback last year and he ended up being a second-team quarterback and came in and did a great job for us, but taking everything into consideration, the coaching staff felt this was the right decision. "Obviously these are tough conversations to have. We sat down with everybody, with each quarterback and met with them one-on-one and communicated how and why." Allar is a five-star recruit ranked as the No. 1 pocket passer in his class by some publications. The 6-foot-5, 242-pounder won Ohio's Mr. Football award after passing for 4,444 yards and 48 touchdowns while leading the Bees to a 13-1 record, graduated from Medina early and enrolled at Penn State in January. Clifford announced in December he would return for a sixth season — most college athletes were granted an extra year due to COVID-19 — to squash any hopes from Penn State fans that Allar would start right away. Veilleux is widely respected for replacing an injured Clifford and going 15-for-24 for 235 yards and three touchdowns against Rutgers last season. Veilleux, a three-star recruit out of Maryland, had been listed as the backup by every major publication heading into this week. Franklin stressed that the situation is fluid and can change weekly. College players can still be redshirted if they play in four games or fewer, so Allar theoretically could back up Clifford and still redshirt. "(Allar) needs to learn from (Clifford), and so does CV and so does (freshman Beau Pribula)," Franklin said. "It's a really good environment with that whole room." Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com.