It took only about five minutes sitting down with Armando Allen this spring to realize that this is a completely different young man than the one we got to know the last two years.
With his quiet demeanor and his unassuming personality, Allen always came across as the perfect complementary player, never really a front-line, go-to guy. His versatility as a runner, receiver and kick returner made Allen a “Jack of Trades,” but his pedestrian production indicated he was a master of none.
Those feelings of the last two seasons changed this spring when Allen looked much crisper in workouts, and when he outlined his goals for this season. They included a huge jump in production and becoming more of a leader.
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Allen has been Notre Dame's most consistent contributor at running back the last two seasons.
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“I feel like I was still just kind of finding my way even last season,” Allen said. “That’s not going to be the case this season. I’m a junior now, it’s time to play like one, and I’ve worked very hard toward that.”
Allen’s numbers from his first two seasons certainly don’t jump off the stat page. He has 933 career rushing yards and averaged only 4.2 yards a carry, though he was second on the team to Golden Tate last season with 50 catches, which went for 479 yards. His 940 yards from scrimmage and his 1,549 all-purpose yards in 2008 were also second to Tate.
All of that is nice, but with only three career plays from scrimmage of more than 20 yards, the player brought in to make game-changing plays has to start making some, and those are coming this fall.
During Allen’s first two seasons, it seemed as if the Irish coaching staff couldn’t figure out exactly how to use him – tailback in a two-back set, single back, flanker, motion. His role remained undefined at times, and perhaps that is why Allen said he was still “finding his way” last season.
For those thinking that Allen was over-hyped coming out of high school in south Florida, keep in mind that part of the delay in his college production comes from not playing as a high school senior after breaking his leg in the preseason. Allen admitted that his freshman year at Notre Dame was more about familiarizing himself with the game again, and trying to improve the strength in his leg, not so much figuring out to make big plays.
“I feel a lot more comfortable now because my freshman year, I was kind of coming off my junior year of high school,” Allen said.
With the apprehension gone and the game second nature again, Allen can stop thinking out there and start playing. The Irish running game also gets an important shot of versatility with James Aldridge moving to fullback, and Allen will be the greatest beneficiary.
Think about it. Unlike fullbacks Asaph Schwapp over the last few seasons, or Steve Paskorz at this point in his career, Aldridge has to be accounted for by a defense, and that will create more freedom for Allen whether he works as a tailback, or in motion out of the backfield as a flanker. Mismatches against linebackers will be the norm and there aren’t many college linebackers that can hang with the speedy and shifty Allen.
In terms of versatility, Allen is clearly the best running back on the Notre Dame roster, and he is every bit as talented as former Irish back Darius Walker, smaller but faster. Allen will still split carries with Robert Hughes this season but Hughes continues to be a work in progress where Allen is set to have the season full of big plays and consistent production we’ve all been waiting for.
Between the coaching staff finally figuring out how to use Allen and Allen finally realizing the time has come to be more than just a serviceable player, the karma is right for a breakout year. This will be the season that Allen separates himself as the clear No. 1 running back on this team.
We saw a glimpse of how valuable Allen can be in the Hawaii Bowl when he went for 184 all-purpose yards. About three months later, Allen looked solid again, earning most valuable player honors in the Blue-Gold Game with 78 rushing yards on 12 carries, a 5.8-yard per carry average.
Allen will return to fall camp bigger, stronger, and much more confident, which is important because he won’t go down so easily, which should boost his per-carry average.
“Just making that one guy miss is something I wanted to improve on (this spring),” Allen said. “And I think I have improved on that tremendously, and that is something I will continue to work on.”
It’s nice that Notre Dame has enough talent at running back that a debate exists on who will end up the more productive of the two regulars this season. But given Allen’s maturation, versatility and the dynamics in the offense, Allen is the obvious choice to be the one with the breakout season.
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