The Penn State football team needed a bounce back win last weekend after a disappointing loss to Michigan the week prior. The Nittany Lions were hosting Rutgers football, a team that has improved a lot from last season, and Penn State picked up the much-needed win. It wasn't all positives for the Nittany Lions, however. Quarterback Drew Allar went down with an injury during the game, and the team had to rely on their backup to seal the victory. Penn State got the job done, but Nittany Lions fans know that they need Allar back to finish the season strong.

When a player goes down with an injury at this point in the season, it can be easy for them to mentally check out of the game or even the rest of the season. That wasn't the case on Saturday for Allar, and Penn State football head coach James Franklin was impressed with the leadership that he showed.

“Obviously, we never want to put our players in a position where they’re going to get an injury, bumps, bruises, whatever it may be,” Franklin said, according to an article from Basic Blues Nation. “At that point, he [Allar] was averaging like 10 yards per rush. And really what he had done the whole game, or what he really done the whole season, is get as many yards as he can and get down. And he’s done a really good job of managing that all season long. Right there in that situation, he was just about to get down, and somebody flashed from behind another player and hit him just right. He was really good as the game went on. I thought his leadership was phenomenal on the sideline. But it’s like anything else, right? Whether it’s football, whether it’s business, whether it’s offense, whether it’s defense: it’s all about risk-reward and everything we do.”

The good news for Penn State is that it sounds like Allar should be good to go this weekend in their regular season finale against Michigan State. While Nittany Lions fans are still upset about the losses to Ohio State and Michigan, there is still a lot to play for. If Penn State beats the Spartans this weekend, they will finish 10-2 and they will head to a great bowl game with a chance to finish 11-2. Fans are ready to take the next step, but that would be a season that 99% of college football teams would be thrilled with. Having Allar leading the team would help increase their chances of that 11-2 finish.