Joel Klatt calls Drew Allar “the baby face killer’ during film study

It’s no surprise that this upcoming game for the Penn State football team is on FOX. The Nittany Lions take on the Illinois Fighting Illini on FOX’s Big Noon Saturday. The pregame show ‘Big Noon Kickoff’ will be at Colorado State and Colorado, however, Penn State fans will still get Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt as commentators. Heading into this matchup former Colorado QB and FOX color analyst Joel Klatt studied film on Drew Allar. He discovered some beautiful throws from the West Virginia game that you may have missed in week 1.

Joel Klatt calls Drew Allar “the baby face killer’ during film study

Drew Allar has had a near-perfect start to his Penn State career. During his film breakdown, Joel Klatt points out some of the best throws that Allar has made because of his arm talent. Klatt also points out an area that Allar can improve in as well.

Klatt described the first time he saw Drew Allar. It was week 1 of the 2022 season, the Nittany Lions were on the road at Purdue. As the Penn State football team was warming up, Klatt spoke with James Franklin.

Klatt stated, “James Franklin and I were standing there, and I hit him and I was like hey, who’s that?” Franklin responded by saying “Oh yeah, wait until he starts playing.” We have now reached that point in Allar’s career, where there is film to review watch the full breakdown here.

"I was like, 'Who's that?' And Franklin said, 'Oh yeah! Wait 'til he starts playing.' And now he is." @PennStateFball QB @AllarDrew is making some noise. Listen as @joelklatt tells us what's in store for the young QB and the rest of the Nittany Lions on Breaking the Huddle ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/hEzQ7LUBvk

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 14, 2023

One play that Klatt reviewed was a crossing route caught by KeAndre Lambert-Smith. Klatt said, “This is one again where I threw the iPad down, it was like the iPad was too hot in my hands. He’s running straight to his right, straight dead right, calm face. Look at him, he’s like the baby face killer. And he’s again off platform, watch this trajectory. What? Across his body on that trajectory that far down the field, in stride, on time and on target.”

Room for improvement

The majority of the film breakdown was positive. But there was one area in which Joel Klatt believes Drew Allar can improve. That is anticipation.

Klatt stated, “It’s not his fault, when you have an arm like his arm, guess what you can wait until everyone is open, then throw the ball. So you become a see-it-throw quarterback rather than an anticipatory quarterback.”

He refers to the post-route that KeAndre Lambert-Smith ran where Allar almost was intercepted by the West Virginia defender. If he can develop that part of his game, he will play at an even higher level.

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