Blue White Illustrated

2 0 1 5 P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L ing him since the summer as he quickly adapted to the college game. "I knew he had the talent," said cornerback Trevor Williams, a fellow Maryland native. "I'd seen him play in high school, and I knew the coaches would give him the opportunity to play. I think he did a great job of embracing the challenge of coming in halfway and making his first start against Ohio State, an elite team. He opened up a lot of eyes." There are many hidden highlights in any football season, and Allen made one of the more underappreciated plays of 2014 late in the Pinstripe Bowl against Boston College. With the Eagles facing third-and-8 from the Lions' 9-yard line, Tyler Murphy darted right on a quarter- back keeper and appeared to have a clear path to the end zone after skirting around linebacker Nyeem Wartman. But just as Wartman missed on a desperate lunge, Allen disengaged from a Boston College blocker, wrapped his arms around Mur- phy's waist and dragged him down at the 3. His tackle forced Boston College to settle for a field goal with less than three minutes to play, and Penn State evened the score a few minutes later, setting the stage for overtime and an eventual Nittany Lion victory. Allen's highlight reel – which is closing in on 10,000 views on YouTube – is full of plays like that. There he is popping Boston College running back John Hilliman at the line of scrimmage in the Pinstripe Bowl. There he is crashing into Illinois' Donovonn Young after a short gain. There he is sending Maryland wideout Stefon Diggs sprawling out of bounds on an overthrown pass. When the young safety was left off of the Associated Press's Freshman All- America team, Shoop admitted he was "stunned." Speaking at a news conference in advance of the Pinstripe Bowl, he said that after Allen joined the starting lineup in the second half of the season, he played as well as any player in the country at his position. "And I'm not talking about a freshman safety," Shoop said. "I'm saying any safety." Over the past eight months, Allen has done nothing to contradict last year's hot take. "Marcus has done a great job," Shoop said earlier this month at Penn State's football media day. "He's the undisputed quarterback of the defense. He probably is to the defense what Christian [Hackenberg] is to the offense. He's very vocal and he understands the defense inside and out." Allen's rise may have been hastened by factors that were beyond anyone's con- trol, but it did not happen entirely by chance. When he was being recruited out of Dr. Henry Wise High in Upper Marlboro, Md., he sat down with his father and studied the depth charts of the schools that were pursuing him, a list that included Clemson, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State and Nebraska. The Allens paid special attention to the eligibility of the players they saw listed. Schools with an abundance of vet- eran defensive backs took precedence, because they would soon find themselves needing replacements. Penn State was one of those schools. "I did my homework with my father, seeing who was on the depth chart, what year they were," Allen said. "I wanted to have a fair shot to play. It was basically a business decision, but it was also a great decision for me." Allen ended up missing most of his senior season due to an ankle injury. He watched from the sideline as Wise, which had gone 14-0 and won the Maryland 4A state cham- pionship in 2013, lost in the regional semi- finals to Duval, 20-14. Sitting out was a miserable experience, and it intensified his desire to make an immediate impact with the Nittany Lions. "It made me upset, made me want to grind even harder," he said. "My motive was just to keep grinding, WELL-COVERED Allen breaks up a pass during Penn State's 20-19 loss to Maryland last season. Photo by Steve Manuel

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