No. 3 Penn State could be without QB Drew Allar for showdown with No. 4 Ohio State

Penn State coach James Franklin isn’t sure if starting quarterback Drew Allar will be ready to play when the third-ranked Nittany Lions host No. 4 Ohio State on Saturday.

Allar suffered an apparent left knee injury late in the first half of Penn State’s 28-13 win over Wisconsin last weekend. He returned for the second half wearing a knee brace, but after a short warm-up, yielded the offense to Beau Pribula.

The strong-armed triggerman of Andy Kotelnicki’s dynamic offense, Allar has completed 117 of 164 passes for 1,640 yards with 12 touchdowns and four interceptions this year. He hasn’t missed a game yet since taking over the starting job at the start of the 2023 season.

“It’s too early to tell at this point, but he’s played enough football that I think the decision will go all the way up to game time,” Franklin said.

Franklin said after the victory over the Badgers that Allar told him he “couldn’t move well enough” to finish the game.

If Pribula is called on to make his first start on Saturday, it will be against the nation’s second-ranked defense in a game that should have massive conference championship and playoff implications

UCF fires dC

With UCF mired in a five-game losing streak, coach Gus Malzahn fired his defensive coordinator Monday and also announced he’ll no longer call offensive plays for the Knights.

Ted Roof, in his first year with the program, was dismissed two days after a 37-24 loss to then-No. 11 BYU dropped UCF to 3-5, 1-4 in the Big 12. Malzahn replaced him with Addison Williams, who was defensive coordinator a year ago when the Knights went 6-7 in their first season in the expanded conference.