All you really need to know about Marcus Allen’s potential is that defensive coordinator Bob Shoop just shakes his head when asked how high Allen’s ceiling is.
Not the shaking head of a disappointed parent either, it’s the kind of shake that comes from not knowing the answer. The kind of shake that is equal parts an appreciation for potential and the cautious optimism that comes with something special still maturing. A man who is not fond of blowing hot air when it comes to talking football, if Shoop says that the sky is the limit for Penn State’s sophomore safety, you tend to believe him.
Allen’s skills may have still been fairly unknown if not for an injury to senior safety Ryan Keiser last season. An injury that put the light on Allen to make an immediate impact against the eventual national champions in the Ohio State Buckeyes. It’s that weird way that sports has of opening the door for unknown players and seeing they make the most of their opportunity.
And Marcus Allen did just that.
“I think back, my first memory of the Marcus obviously not my first memory but my brightest memory is literally the Thursday before Ohio State when (Ryan Keiser) went down,” Shoop said. “And hey, Marcus, you’re going to have to start against Ohio State. Are you okay? He goes, I’m not going to lie to you, Coach; I’m a little nervous. I kind of used a quote from “Remember the Titans” whenever Sunshine had to go in the game, and the coach said, when I was your age I lost my mother and father within 12 days; command your troops and all that stuff. And he embraced that and really thrived.”
Allen’s accounting of that evening is perhaps a bit less fearless. Ask him about that game and he remembers still being nervous and maybe even a little bit scared walking out of the tunnel and on to the field. It was a big moment in his career and an even bigger moment in the season.
Whatever he felt before the game, Allen shook it off en route to an 11 tackle, 2 pass breakup evening that turned heads, as concern for a new player making his first start quickly transitioned into excitement over a budding star.
But for Allen, it wasn’t so much his own play that gave him confidence that night, it was the fact he was surrounded by players he felt he could count on that made it easier to go out and make plays. There was no pressure to do everything, Allen simply had to do his job.
“When you’ve got elite players around you, when you’ve got Anthony Zettel, Trevor Williams, Jordan Lucas, Adrian Amos, Deion Barnes, Austin Johnson all those great guys, you’ve got to be comfortable because you know you’re gonna bet set,” Allen said. “They’re going to have your back. If I’m comfortable around them I’m most definitely going to play my part to live up that expectation.”
“I give Ryan Keiser a lot of credit,” Shoop added. “He stood behind Ryan Keiser in walk throughs and meetings, and a lot of that rubbed off on him, and Ryan was a lot like a coach on the field, and Marcus just took it and ran, and gave us a little bit of a different dimension.”
Now the question now is how much better can Allen get in a permanent starting role. Finishing the 2014-15 season third on the team in tackles it’s not as though Allen hasn’t already gotten his feet wet, but now being a marquee player that requires a new kind of a effort. As much as Shoop can compliment Allen on his on field communication, Allen knows that this wasn’t always the case. The narrative might be that Marcus Allen is headed towards great things, but hard work is what started to write that story. It’s hard work that will finish it.
“At first, I’m not gonna lie I wasn’t like that,” Allen said of his on field communication. “Because I was nervous. But once I had to play I studied to the max, like a lot. I studied the playbook and learned my communication from Ryan Keiser, he took me under his wing once I stepped in. He was the most vocal person on the field so me being underneath his wing helped me be more comfortable as a communicator.”
It won’t take much either for Allen to write his name in the history books as one of Penn State’s better safeties. Only 16 defensive backs have been drafted into the NFL from Penn State with only two safeties having that honor since 2001.
None of that really matters right now though. All Penn State needs to know is that Marcus Allen is really young, really good at football, and only getting better.
And that’s nothing to shake your head at.
