MIAMI — Drew Allar sat on the Hard Rock Stadium grass alone, slamming the ground with both hands after making the biggest mistake of his football career. While Notre Dame celebrated, offensive lineman Drew Shelton helped his quarterback to his feet. Walking back to the Penn State sideline, Allar put his hands on his head in sheer disbelief of what just happened.
Allar’s fourth-quarter interception is the play everyone will remember from Penn State’s 27-24 loss to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinal. The second-year starter who made strides this season, leading Penn State to the CFP semifinal, erred at the worst time possible.
Allar was intercepted, and the Irish took over with 33 seconds left in regulation. They bled the clock and kicked a game-winning 41-yard field goal with eight seconds to go. Notre Dame punched its ticket to the national championship, where it will face either Ohio State or Texas on Jan. 20 in Atlanta.
While the Irish lived it up postgame, Allar was forced to walk past Notre Dame’s locker room and the confetti on the hallway floor en route to the Hard Rock Stadium media room. There, he was asked to recount the interception that will haunt him and the fan base all offseason.
“I was going through my progressions and got to the backside read,” Allar said, before getting to the throw he made in Omari Evans’ direction. “I was trying to dirt it at his feet. I should’ve just thrown it away when I felt the first two progressions not open because of the situation we were in. I was trying to dirt it at Omari’s feet. Just didn’t execute what I was trying to do.”
Penn State was being aggressive with less than a minute to go in a 24-24 game. The Nittany Lions took over after a Notre Dame punt at their own 15-yard line with 47 seconds to go. A 13-yard run by Nick Singleton made a game-winning field goal possible.
Penn State went up tempo. Allar looked left, and star tight end Tyler Warren was covered. He turned right and, just before being clocked by a blitzer, Allar released the ball over the middle. Notre Dame’s Christian Gray had a step on Evans and made the play.
Penn State quarterback Drew Allar reacts afgter throwiong an interception during the fourth quarter of the Orange Bowl on Jan. 9, 2025. Joe Hermitt | [email protected] Hermitt | [email protected]
Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki said he and the staff don’t regret going with tempo and trying to push for a field goal. “We’re going to play to win,” he reiterated in Penn State’s postgame locker room, which was as somber as you’d expect. Kotelnicki was then asked about Allar’s interception.
“He’s going to put that on himself, and he doesn’t have to,” said Kotelnicki, whose tutelage and system were integral to Allar’s development this season. “I’ve got to be better for him and our offense to make sure that whatever we’re doing, whatever play we’re calling, that our people have a chance to separate and put him in a position where he can feel more comfortable.
“I simply say to him, ‘That’s not on you. You don’t have to take that on your shoulders and feel the blame for that.’ Because we will win and we will lose as a group, as a football team. It’s never one play. Everybody’s going to point the finger at that one. But I’d say, ‘I love you.’”
“He knows we have his back,” Warren added. “Obviously, he puts a lot of pressure on himself and he’s a competitor. So any situation like that for anybody that’s a competitor is gonna be tough. But we have his back. He’s our quarterback.”
Allar has been an effective quarterback for this team all season long. Entering the Orange Bowl, his 8.6 yards per attempt ranked 12th in the FBS. His completion rate rose from 59.9% to 67.4%. He matured as the director of the offense and as a leader. There was even talk that the junior, after announcing his intentions to return for the 2025 season, might end up leaving for the NFL draft if he guided Penn State to a national title.
Instead, Allar fell short of playing to his full potential in the biggest game of the season. The lack of help at wide receiver showed; the wideouts didn’t have a single catch all night against Notre Dame’s stingy man coverage.
But Allar was off. He completed 12 of 23 passes for 135 yards. He shorted a potential touchdown throw to Singleton in the first half. And then he had the game-defining interception.
For Allar, he’ll hope it’s not a career-defining interception. He’ll hope he has another chance to get back to this point, to be on the cusp of playing for a national title next season.
Allar said he’s going to do “everything in my power” to grow from that mistake.
“I learned a lot about myself,” Allar said, asked about the 2024 season as a whole. “I think it’s a credit to the coaching staff for allowing me to be me. I think I grew a lot on the field, off the field. … I’m just gonna learn from this and move on and take it on the chin right now.”
Penn State vs Notre Dame, Orange Bowl, Jan. 9, 2025
