What Drew Allar was thinking on crushing interception in Penn State CFP loss

At about the worst possible time, Drew Allar fired a tad too high.With less than a minute left in a tie game in Thursday’s College Football Playoff semifinal, the Penn State sophomore quarterback scanned the field and saw no one open.And that’s when an entire season changed.Allar made the fateful decision to throw cross-body to a receiver Omari Evans the middle of the field, only for the pass to end up too far off the ground and in arms of Notre Dame cornerback Christian Gray.Several minutes later, the Fighting Irish secured a 27-24 win to end Penn State’s hopes of winning a national title and left Allar batting tears in his postgame press conference.“I was going through my progression, got to the backside and, honestly, I was just trying to throw it at his feet,” Allar said of his interception with 33 seconds remaining, “but I should have just thrown it away when I felt the first two progressions not open, just because of the situation we were in, but I was just trying to dirt it at Amari’s feet, but just didn’t execute what I was trying to do.”A game that began with some wondering if Allar could play his way into top 10 of the 2025 NFL Draft instead will be remembered for the one horrific throw he made in the crushing loss.Allar did not play particularly well Thursday, completing just 12-of-23 passes for 135 yards and one interception with two others waived off, but he found himself in a position to win the game.Penn State opted to go for the win instead of just running out the clock when it received the ball with less than a minute left, with Allar looking to pass on a second-and-2 at Penn State’s 28.In a moment that could have potentially helped his draft stock, Allar instead bounced around the pocket before making a poor decision.Penn State’s receivers did not tally a single catch all night, yet he threw toward Evans in single coverage.Even if he meant to throw the ball into the ground, the sideline was the safer choice.Allar held his han...