Penn State quarterback Drew Allar is known for his big arm, but it was his running power and quickness that were on display Saturday against West Virginia. Allar gained 44 yards on six carries, including four first-down runs, and energized the offense with his run game in the Nittany Lions’ 34-12 victory over the Mountaineers. The quarterback also moved well in the pocket, taking no sacks and few hits.
“We call him Lamar Allar,” Penn State coach James Franklin said postgame, referring to Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. “I thought he ran better than people probably expected last year. He dropped 10 pounds, I think he’s done a really good job in the weight room becoming more explosive.”
Allar, who said he actually lost 11 pounds, worked with strength coach Chuck Losey this offseason to get leaner and more agile on his feet. Penn State’s roster lists him at 6-5, 235 pounds, and Losey described Allar as a “body composition guy” in July. Losey said that the staff’s goal was to lower Allar’s body-fat percentage, increase his lean mass and improve his movement qualities.
“You saw it during the spring; he’s moving around a lot more, and he’s going to have to be able to do that in the game, too,” Losey said of Allar this summer. “With any of our guys, we need them to be superior athletes. Movement has always been an area for Drew, when you look at our history and the types of guys we’ve had back there [at quarterback] with Trace [McSorley] and Sean [Clifford], we’ve always had some really good movement guys back there. And that’s always something that we’ve been trying to improve on with Drew.”
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Three things we learned from Penn State’s win over West Virginia
Allar said Saturday that he has been “intentional” about improving that aspect of his game. The quarterback worked with Franklin, offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki and quarterbacks coach Danny O’Brien to become a more willing and aggressive runner. Most importantly Saturday, Allar converted consecutive 3rd-and-long runs on Penn State’s scoring drive to start the third quarter.
“I think it’s just having more trust in myself when I feel the need to take off,” Allar said after the game. “It’s really more about making the defense respect me as a runner. … I’ve been intentional about it and I’m going to show it every week when I have the opportunity.”
That manifested in a stiff arm Allar delivered to the face of West Virginia linebacker Josiah Trotter in the second half. Allar was fired up, too, jawing at Trotter right after the play.
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Running back Nick Singleton said the play “got everybody hyped” on the Penn State sideline. He added that Allar’s willingness to run and put his head down has been exciting to see.
“He showed a little bit last year, but even more this year. He’s been crazy,” Singleton said. “He put in a lot of effort getting bigger, faster, stronger. He still has more to do.”
Allar ran for 206 yards and four touchdowns last season, gaining a career-high 49 yards against Michigan. It seems unlikely that Kotelnicki will call a significant number of designed runs for Allar, especially with gadget quarterback Beau Pribula playing an expanded role in the offense. But when the play breaks down, Allar’s willingness and ability to scramble to extend drives could be key for the Nittany Lions. It also will give opposing defenses one more thing to worry about.
“If your quarterback can get you just two to three first downs a game with his legs, it changes everything,” Franklin said. “I thought that showed up today.”
Up next
Penn State hosts Bowling Green on Sept. 7 in its 2024 home opener at Beaver Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for noon ET on Big Ten Network.
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Sam Woloson has covered Penn State Athletics for the past three years and is currently the managing editor of The Daily Collegian. His work has also appeared in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Huntingdon Daily News and Rivals. Follow him on X @sam_woloson
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (Gray DC) – — Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced $4 billion in private investment to build data centers across West Virginia, but the plan faces pushback from residents concerned about rising electricity costs and resource consumption.
The West Virginia State Legislature opened the door for data center development in 2023, with a plan promising 30% of funds would stay in host counties.
“We have a framework that will help make West Virginia not only the best state to open a data center… but best for consumers as well,” Morrisey said.
Resource and cost concerns
Critics say each data center will consume between 1 and 5 million gallons of water daily, employ fewer than a dozen people and strain the power grid.
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Morrisey said the law bars passing costs to consumers.
However, a Carnegie Mellon report shows electricity costs in communities around data centers are expected to spike nearly 25% by 2030. The explosion of data centers nationwide will drive up electricity bills by an average of 8% even for those not near a facility.
Limited lifespan
The lifespan of a data center averages 15 years. By year 25, they are considered obsolete.
There are currently plans for eight data centers across West Virginia. Morrisey said he is listening to those communities.
West Virginia’s welcome signs were changed from “Wild and Wonderful” to “Open for Business” in 2006.
The Department of Biology invites the community to join its spring ephemeral wildflower walk Sunday (April 12) at the Core Arboretum.
The free guided walks will begin at noon, 12:30 p.m., 3 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
The walks will take place each Sunday in April.
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Find more information and register to attend.
Last year, more than 45 species of plants were seen in bloom over the course of the wildflower walks.
Individuals are also welcome to visit and see the flowers on their own. Information on how to find and identify the flowers are available at the kiosk.
Those who wish to schedule a group tour outside of the regular schedule or would like to become a volunteer guide, should contact Zach Fowler, WVU Core Arboretum director, at zfowler@mail.wvu.edu.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) — West Virginia University has welcomed back its beloved Research Week for its eighth year.
Research Week at WVU was created to highlight the research efforts of students, faculty and staff across the school’s three campuses and to thank them for helping create the R1 institution’s household name.
Core facilities showcase (WBOY image).
Monday kicked off the week with award-winning and #1 New York Times bestselling author and historian John M. Barry as a keynote speaker in a conversation “on the power of storytelling to shape public understanding, inform policy, and influence how science is understood in public life,” according to WVU.
One of the events that took place on Tuesday was the Core Facilities showcase held in the Health Science Center, which featured 30 different displays of research.
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12 News spoke with WVU Core Resources Director Karen Martin on why it was important to feature the university’s research projects in this way.
“This is going to be professional development for them so that they can learn the skills that they can then take, not only to do their research now, but that they can take with them for jobs in the future. And we’ve got the cutting-edge, greatest technologies out there, so they’re really competitive, they’ve got good skills when they leave here. And we study everything from diabetes, cancer, neuroscience, just a whole range of everything that we study, and so students really get a lot of opportunities to learn, to understand how the technology works, and they’ve got that to take with them,” Martin said.
Research products that the Core facilities showcase. (WBOY images)
Research Week will continue all across WVU until Friday. You can find a full list of events and virtual seminars on the university’s website here.
