Drew Allar has upped his game regularly throughout the 2024 season. However, even the star quarterback knows Penn State needed every member of the Nittany Lions to get past Minnesota.

Allar was largely fantastic once again against the Gophers. He finished 21-for-28 for 244 yards and a touchdown while adding a rushing touchdown to his credit against Minnesota.

Even with that performance, the Nittany Lions were left clinging to a 26-25 lead late in the fourth and facing a potential punt. Instead, Penn State dialed up a fake punt with true freshman tight end Luke Reynolds rattling off a 32-yard carry.

Allar acknowledged after the game that anything on the road in the Big Ten is a test while praising the Golden Gophers for an elite environment:

“Any time you go on the road in the Big Ten – or just Big Ten in general – it’s gonna be a test,” said Allar. “Obviously this is a challenging place to play, my first time here. It was a really cool atmosphere to be a part of. Minnesota’s a great team, they play extremely hard for all 4 quarters.”

Allar continued to describe Penn State’s efforts as a total team win. He admitted the defense held strong as the offense struggled to start the game, and it was the special teams unit to pick up the big gain with the game potentially on the line.

“It was a great team win. Defense had the offense’s back in the beginning, offense stepped up a couple of times. Special teams had a huge 4th-and-1 conversion, so it was a total team effort,” praised Allar.

With the win, Penn State kept its shot at a B1G Championship Game alive, but beyond the conference goals, the College Football Playoff should be firmly within grasp. A win over Maryland would move the Nittany Lions to 11-1 and likely into a spot in the 12-team bracket.