Penn State is chasing big wins & Drew Allar is chasing draft stock — both hinge on cutting out the kind of error James Franklin spotlighted after Villanova win
Penn State won comfortably against the Villanova Wildcats but the big wins won’t come with avoidable mistakes like the one Drew Allar made on Saturday.
The Penn State Nittany Lions are 3-0. It wasn’t always pretty against the Villanova Wildcats, but the talent divide between the two teams did ultimately show itself as an overwhelming divide across 60 minutes at Beaver Stadium. Penn State isn’t playing this season for September wins — nor FCS wins, however. They’re playing for wins like the next potential opportunity, a heavyweight showcase against the Oregon Ducks.
And quarterback Drew Allar is playing for a chance to claim real estate at the top of the 2026 NFL Draft. And if all of those things are going to come together, Allar would do well to heed the words of his head coach before he has to start hearing the same thing from NFL scouts at the end of the year.
James Franklin gave an honest assessment of Allar’s biggest misstep on Saturday against Villanova during the post-game press conference, but made sure the weight of the mistake was shared across the board.
James Franklin’s feedback from Drew Allar’s frustrating interception will echo a lot of what the NFL will be saying if it continues
“On the interception, we had a missed assignment. You just have to be careful, once one bad thing happens, you can’t turn it into two. So we’ve got to be better there…but we’ve got to help him get into a rhythm and I think the third downs is a big part of that. We’ve got to be better on third down as coaches, Drew’s got to be better, and all the guys on the field (have) got to be a little bit better.”
— Penn State head coach James Franklin on QB Drew Allar’s interception versus Villanova
The book on Allar from an NFL perspective is a favorable one. The needle-moving traits are present in abundance, which is typically a first-class ticket to being drafted early. But we’re in the midst of a muddy pack of quarterbacks vying for a strong film resume throughout the 2025 season, and compounding issues in the way Allar did on the play in question would surely be a red flag if it persists.
The play in question came with Penn State leading 24-0 in the third quarter. Knocking on the door in the red zone, Allar took a snap from Villanova’s 11-yard line facing 1st & 10. Two of Penn State’s three eligibles to the trips side went vertical, with a bubble from No. 2 that didn’t really show any intent on receiving the football. Allar’s eyes started that way before blindly progressing back to his left and lofting the ball to running back Kaytron Allen on a swing route. The trajectory and timing of the pass allowed it to be intercepted by Villanova defender Omari Bursey, who would have likely ran it back for a pick-six had he kept his feet.
Franklin’s assessment seems to suggest that someone to the front side of the play had their wires crossed — but he’s absolutely right in that Allar took a bad situation and made it worse. It could have ended in a tuck and run, or by simply throwing the ball out of bounds and living to fight another down. If Allar wants to have the best film resume possible — or to slay the dragon that is the Oregon Ducks on the schedule in two weeks, we’ll need to cut these out of the film as soon as possible. Let’s see how well Allar can take the instruction, because if he doesn’t hear it now, he’s going to keep hearing it as he continues his pursuit of the pros.
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