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Penn State quarterback Drew Allar is one of the most polarizing players on the team's roster. The senior quarterback is a major driving force behind the program's preseason prediction by many outlets to win the Big Ten Championship. Despite that, parts of his own fan base view him as a limiting factor because of the way he played in big games last year. 

So, before Penn State has its turn on the stage at the Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis and unofficially kicks off the start of the 2025 season, we're taking one last look back at its performance against Ohio State and Oregon in 2024. 

Join the BWI Live Show today at 10 a.m. on YouTube to get a rare sneak peek into our premium content as we discuss a series of articles on the site from this week outlining how Allar performed based on advanced data. If you can't catch the show live, be sure to catch the replay on the channel, in this article, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Trying to strip away the emotion of a Penn State loss 

Fans can point to any number of critical plays or turning points in the games against Ohio State and Oregon as the "reason" that Penn State lost. We can also blame the defense, receivers, or other parts of the offense beyond the quarterback. It's an impossible task, but the plan for these articles was to remove those elements and focus solely on Allar's performance in those games. 

We also try to establish a baseline of comparison for Allar's performance. After all, the Buckeye and Duck defenses were two of the better units in the conference last year. We'll try to establish a baseline of their performance by context and comparison to the rest of the conference, and then compare Allar's performance to how that unit forced quarterbacks to play. 

Play under pressure and within a pressure environment 

Next, we'll look at how pressure affected Allar during these two games and the playoffs overall. Pressure means more than one thing. First, we'll look  at how Penn State's starting quarterback played with direct game pressure, as in when a defender was about to tackle him in the pocket. Next, we'll try to sniff out the pressure of the moment. Big games create a form of energy in their own right and can affect a player's normal performance. So, we'll look at Allar's play when in a clean pocket and compare that to season averages in both situations. 

Finally, we'll take that pressure data and compare Allar's playoff performance to his regular season performance. 

Big Ten Media Day Schedule

Penn State head coach James Franklin will speak today in Las Vegas, and Blue White Illustrated will have you covered! Hear his comments on our YouTube Channel after he's done speaking with the media. We'll also have a recap from reporter Greg Pickel, who is out in Vegas covering the event. Be sure to subscribe to the BWI YouTube channel so you don't miss any of what Franklin has to say!

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Perception vs Reality: How Did Penn State QB Drew Allar play in the biggest games?