QB Drew Allar Not To Blame for Penn State's Offensive Woes, Says Joel Klatt

Penn State has a lot of problems after losing its second straight game, but quarterback Drew Allar isn't one of them.

FOX Sports lead college football analyst Joel Klatt came to the defense of the 21-year-old signal-caller following PSU's 42-37 upset loss to UCLA on Saturday, saying that he was "the best Nittany Lion" on the field in that game.

"He was … the only reason that Penn State had a chance to win that football game in the first place, and that's even being in an offense and trying to execute a scheme that he's not necessarily fit to execute," Klatt said on his podcast, "The Joel Klatt Show." "That dude plays hard. Now, that's not enough, and I'm not suggesting he was perfect, either. 

"I don't want to get the two conflated, because no one played great for Penn State, but he was certainly the reason that they were in that game, and I believe that the criticism coming his way is not appropriate."

Statistically, Allar had a strong game against UCLA. He completed 19 of 26 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns, adding 78 yards on the ground. However, it took a while for him and Penn State's offense to get going. The Nittany Lions recorded just 92 yards of total offense in the first half, putting them in a 27-7 hole at halftime.

Penn State's first-half struggles on offense against UCLA highlights one of the problems the Nittany Lions have, according to Klatt, as they only recorded 68 total yards of offense in the first half of their loss to Oregon a week prior. 

"When you look at the last two weeks and you look at what the game plan was — I'm talking about base downs, first half, what they spent their entire week in preparation getting ready to do — it has not worked," Klatt said. "It didn't work against Oregon in