MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Tears welled up in Drew Allar’s eyes and streamed down the Penn State quarterback’s face as he talked about a game that was in his control until it wasn’t.

Allar, who showed significant improvement in his second year as Penn State’s starting quarterback, struggled greatly in Thursday’s 27-24 loss to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinals in the Capital One Orange Bowl. But after helping Penn State take the lead midway through the fourth quarter, he had a chance to lead a game-winning drive when the offense took possession with 47 seconds left in the game and the score was tied 24-24.

Then, on first down, Allar looked for wide receiver Omari Evans downfield from the Penn State 28-yard line, but failed badly and Notre Dame’s Christian Gray dove to intercept the ball. The Irish then got a crucial first down, setting up Mitch Jeter’s 41-yard field goal attempt, which he converted with seven seconds left.

“I went through my progressions, fell behind and honestly I just tried to lay it at his feet,” Allar said. “I should have just thrown it away when I felt the first two advances couldn’t open because of the situation we were in.”

Allar, who completed 71.6% of his passes during the regular season and helped Penn State reach the Big Ten title game, connected on just 12 of 23 attempts for 135 yards on Thursday. Penn State converted just 3 of 11 third-down opportunities and did not complete any passes to its wide receivers. Thursday marked the only game in the last 20 seasons in which Penn State failed to complete a pass to a wide receiver.

Notre Dame entered the game ranked fifth nationally in third-down conversion defense at just under 30%, while Penn State was 15th nationally in third-down conversion defense at 47%. On third-and-goal late in the first quarter, Allar’s pass to running back Nicholas Singleton went slightly behind him and bounced off his hands, preventing a likely touchdown.

“I thought we had a really good plan,” Allar said. “I thought (offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki) and the offensive staff had a really good plan for normal downs, third down and red zone, but I missed a few throws, so it just comes down to execution. Credit to Notre Dame for that.” That makes it difficult for sure, but I think if we just executed those moments, we would have put ourselves in a better position. This starts with me hitting some of these throws.

Although Penn State won a team-record 13 games, including the first two CFP victories in school history, it blew two leads and narrowly missed out on a trip to the national championship. Falling to 1-15 against AP Top 5 opponents, coach James Franklin pointed to Penn State’s struggles in the third period on both sides of the ball – Notre Dame converted 11 of 17 opportunities – and the final minutes of the first Half time and the start of the second half were the biggest factors for the result.

“He’s hurting right now, that should hurt, we’re all hurting, it’s not easy,” Franklin said of Allar. “He’ll do great with it. He’ll be in pain tonight, and he’ll be in pain tomorrow, and he’ll be in a little less pain than the next day, and so on and so forth. But he is a committed guy who will make it the right way.

Kotelnicki said the team has a play-to-win mentality and wants to stay aggressive in the final minute. After Singleton ran 13 yards on the first play, Penn State tried to use speed on the unfortunate pass.

“He’s going to put this on himself, and he doesn’t have to,” Kotelnicki said. “I have to be better for him and our offense to make sure that whatever we do, whatever game we play, our guys have a chance to separate and put him in a position where he can feel more comfortable to name.” . So I just tell him, “It’s not your fault.”

Allar’s interception was his first in the CFP and only his eighth all season. During four postseason games – the Big Ten Championship and three CFP contests – he struggled with accuracy, connecting on just 58 of 109 (53.2%) of his attempts while throwing six touchdown passes and three interceptions threw.

The 6-foot-1, 220-pound junior announced last month that he planned to return to Penn State for the 2025 season rather than enter the NFL draft.

“We didn’t win the game so it wasn’t good enough, I think that’s plain and simple,” Allar said. “So I’m going to learn from it, just do everything in my power to get better from it and just grow from it.”

Franklin called Allar’s growth “significant” from 2023, his first year as Penn State’s starter.

“He said it, and it may not feel like it right now, but he’ll learn from it and he’ll get better, and so will we,” Franklin said.