Last Saturday, Penn State football quarterback Drew Allar walked into Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and threw 391 passing yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions in the Nittany Lions’ 33-30 overtime win over USC. His performance consisted of his ability to make dynamic plays, keep drives alive, and bounce back from mistakes.

Halfway through the season, Allar has 1,492 passing yards, 11 touchdowns, four interceptions, and a 70.5% completion rate. He’s become increasingly reliable on the ground, with 121 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

The second-year starter and third-year player’s eagerness to develop his game has helped guide Penn State to a 6-0 start and a No. 3 ranking in the AP Poll.

“His willingness to improve and really embrace this ‘1% better every game mentality,’ he has embodies that for our football team, obviously, the leader, in the position that he plays, we want to see those things. And so he’s done that, and that’s really, really impressive,” offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki said.

The Medina, Ohio, native’s ability to embrace that mindset and grow throughout this season is noticeable. It hasn’t been linear, but Allar has played like a reliable quarterback at worst, and a game-changer at best given his USC performance. His only game without a touchdown was two weeks ago against Illinois, and he’s had no worse than a 64.7% completion rate in any matchup.

However, it hasn’t always been easy. There have been growing pains, such as his three interceptions against USC despite career-high passing yardage.

“He had a couple of interceptions, we had this or that, and we stalled out in the red zone, whatever it might be, it wasn’t perfect, and we had to scratch and claw and fight our way to find success. And that last drive was a big-time drive, and he showed up, made some big-time plays there, with keeping the ball alive and delivering some throws on time,” Kotelnicki said.

Kotelnicki said the play in which Allar threw the game-tying touchdown pass to Nick Singleton was the same one in which he threw an interception. Coming back from that highlights the coaching staff’s trust in him, but also resilience from Allar himself.

“Fundamentally, it all just goes down to him wanting to get better, right? He wasn’t sitting and sulking when he did throw an interception. He was evaluating what he’s going to do next time that situation comes up,” Kotelnicki echoed.