MMQB - Convince Me

Convince me why Drew Allar should not be the starting quarterback for the Penn State Nittany Lions for the remainder of the 2022 season.

I’d like to hear well thought out reasons.

Because I’m struggling to find any good ones.

I’ll begin by saying I’ve been a big Sean Clifford supporter. Given how well the team played last year up until his injury against Iowa, I thought the 2022 squad was in much better position to win now.

Clifford performed well against Purdue, ghastly pick-six aside. Against Auburn he wasn’t asked to do much aside from hand the ball off. He’s otherwise simply managed the games against Ohio, CMU, and Northwestern.

But I don’t have faith that he can get the Lions to 10 wins this season. Not anymore.

And no, I don’t blame him for the loss to Michigan. Other than Barney Amor, and maybe Jake Pinegar, no one came ready to play against the Wolverines. But at no point after the Lions got down by multiple scores in the third quarter did I expect Clifford to lead the charge for a comeback. Again, not really his fault, but I just don’t think he has the toolset to ever lead a multi-score comeback.

So now Penn State’s best case scenario is 10-2, with tough games against Minnesota and Maryland (and Indiana and Michigan State) making that seem awfully tough.

So if PSU is looking at the future, why wait? Why not give Allar the starting gig? Realistic hopes of either a Big Ten Championship or an appearance in the College Football Playoff are gone this year.

Start getting the next quarterback ready, and not just in garbage time. Who knows, perhaps running with the 1s with the game still in the balance helps jumpstart Drew’s career.

I just don’t see a downside to playing Allar as QB1 from here on out, and very few upsides to continuing to play Clifford.

So, convince me.