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UNIVERSITY PARK -- Penn State quarterback Drew Allar has been statistically one of the better quarterbacks throughout the country over his career.
He also has an unfortunate knack for throwing his few interceptions at the most inopportune times possible. That happened again Saturday in the annual White Out game, a 30-24 loss to Oregon in double overtime that handed the Lions their first loss of such a promising season.
Allar tried to hit tight end Luke Reynolds on a seam in the second overtime, but didn't get enough air on the ball, and it was intercepted by Oregon's Dillon Thieneman to end the game.
"I just didn't get it high enough to give Luke a chance," Allar said. "It's on me."
The interception may be on Allar, but he was also a big reason why they still had a chance to win heading into overtime. In the final period of regulation, Allar went 5-for-7 with 70 yards and two TDs -- both to Devonte Ross.
"I think we're going to feel like we had tons of opportunities in this game," PSU coach James Franklin said.
That will not be good enough for much of the fan base, who frequently booed throughout the first three quarters with PSU down 17-3 early in the fourth quarter. But Franklin shouldered the blame on the collective rather than the individual.
"I think it's going to be easy for people to be critical," he said. "I think we averaged third-and-9 in the first half. That's not a good situation for any quarterback."
"We got into too many obvious passing situations," Allar said.
It certainly isn't a recipe for success. Allar said the next step is to be critical in the film session on Sunday, and of decision-making.
"You just learn from those opportunities," Allar said. "It's going to hurt for the next 24 hours or whatever it's going to be, but after that you have to flush it."
There is still plenty of football to be played the rest of the season, and still plenty of time to right the ship that took a wrong direction over the weekend. But Allar's inopportune decisions and much to be desired in the offense in the first three quarters must be eliminated fast.
"The way college football is today, there's going to be very few teams that finish the end of the season unscathed," Franklin said. "We have to learn from this and have a great week next week."