Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/557480
2 0 1 5 P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L F orget the fans, all 107,000 of them. Forget the people watching on TV, all 4.7 million of them. Football is football, no matter how big the audience, no matter how high the stakes. That, in essence, is what Shawn Allen told his son Marcus two days before the freshman Penn State free safety was to play the biggest game of his life. Starter Ryan Keiser had just suffered a serious rib injury in practice, and the coaches had told Allen he would be filling in. His first start for the Nittany Lions would not be against some overmatched nonconference opponent on an early-September after- noon. It would not be a year or two (or three) into his college career. It would be two months into his college career, and it would be in the most heavily hyped game of the season, a prime time, nationally televised White Out game against visiting Ohio State. These were not ideal circumstances. As Allen admitted, "It was very nerve-wrack- ing. I had a lot of butterflies going through my stomach." But he also had a lot of faith in himself. One of the main reasons he had chosen Penn State was because he thought the Lions offered him a shot at early playing time. And make no mistake, he wanted that playing time. His promotion may have come suddenly, but it was the cul- mination of a process that he and his father had set in motion years earlier when they began exploring his college choices. What's more, as the game loomed, he received one positive affirmation after another. His father told him, "It's going to be like it was in high school. This is your chance to shine." His coaches were just as encouraging. And the day before the game, Allen received a text from a bedridden Keiser. It read, "You're gonna do great tomorrow." He did. Although the jitters hadn't en- tirely subsided – he spent much of Sat- urday at Toftrees asking fellow defensive backs Grant Haley, Jordan Lucas and Adri- an Amos to quiz him about the game plan – Allen had a marvelous evening, finishing with 11 tackles and breaking up a pair of deep passes in single coverage. Defensive coordinator Bob Shoop said he "played lights out" in the Nittany Lions' 31-24 double-overtime loss to the 13th-ranked Buckeyes. And the following week, after it had become clear that the veteran Keiser would not be rejoining the team, Allen began to exhibit the same coach-on-the- field qualities that his predecessor was known for. "I don't want to say he was a different person," Shoop explained, "but it's like Keiser's mentality morphed into his body somehow." Allen went on to become one of the biggest success stories on a defense that had more than its share. A three-star prospect from the Washington, D.C., area, he emerged as one of the Lions' top contributors, making six starts and finishing in a tie for third place on the team with 58 stops. His rise to prominence came as no surprise to his new teammates, who had been watch- | EYES ON THE REPRISE He's already an impact player for the PSU defense, but free safety Marcus Allen is far from satisfied as he prepares for his sophomore season