Baggot: It’s time to appreciate all that Allen has accomplished so far
November 15, 2021 | Football, Andy Baggot
Freshman’s ascendance through the rushing ranks a remarkable reason for Badgers’ surge
BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — You may have forgotten that true freshman running back Braelon Allen didn't carry the ball a single time during his debut with the Wisconsin football team.
He appeared seven times on special teams during a 16-10 Big Ten Conference loss to Penn State in the season opener on Sept. 4.
It may have slipped your mind that Allen had only 12 rushing attempts, good for 49 yards, through the first four games.
In addition to not playing a single offensive snap against the Nittany Lions, he didn't make the trip to Chicago for a 41-13 non-league loss to Notre Dame on Sept. 25 because he sustained an injury during practice earlier in the week and he had five carries for 19 yards during a 38-17 Big Ten setback versus Michigan on Oct. 2.
Now seems like a good time to offer a refresher course on Allen seeing how the 17-year-old phenomenon from Fond du Lac has become a college football marvel. He's gone from being at least fourth on the depth chart when the season began to an irreplaceable, go-to force for one of the hottest clubs in the nation.
The No. 19 Badgers (7-3 overall, 5-2 in league play) have won six straight games for the first time since 2019, assumed control of their path in the Big Ten West Division and done so in large part because Allen has come into his own.
Think about what Allen did in those first four games, a reality born of the fact he was initially situated behind junior Chez Mellusi, sophomore Jalen Berger and junior Isaac Guerendo in the pecking order at running back. Mellusi and Guerendo are now out for the season with leg injuries and Berger was dismissed from the team last month.
In their stead, Allen has rattled off six straight 100-yard rushing performances and needs 166 yards to become the 19th back in program history to reach 1,000 for the season. He would be the fourth true freshman to reach that milestone, joining Ron Dayne (1996), James White (2010) and Jonathan Taylor (2017).
John Chenal, a fifth-year senior fullback, called Allen a rare talent whose humility, maturity and work ethic reminds him of Taylor, the two-time Doak Walker Award winner as the best running back in the nation in 2018 and '19.
"Obviously JT's way up there — he's on the Mount Rushmore of Wisconsin backs — but I think Braelon has a chance to do that if he keeps this up and stays on the path he's on right now," Chenal said.
Chenal was asked to reflect on the idea that Allen would go from having zero carries in the season opener and 49 yards after the first four outings to being on the cusp of 1,000 yards with two regular-season games remaining.
Allen has 118 carries for 834 yards and nine touchdowns. He's averaging 7.1 yards per attempt, the fifth-best ratio in the Football Bowl Subdivision for ball-carriers with at least 100 rushes.
"That just shows how much he's bought in to what our plan is and how much he's invested in learning the offense," Chenal said of Allen. "It just goes to show how much he's matured and grown.
"We're really happy about that. I couldn't be happier for him because he's making us better and me better, too. It's a very special thing to have."
Allen made his first collegiate start on Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium and responded with career bests in attempts with 25, yards with 173 and TDs with three during a 35-7 Big Ten blowout of Northwestern.
Was it his best game of the season?
"Yeah, I think so," he said with a knowing smile.
In addition to putting up high-grade numbers against the Wildcats, Allen wowed observers on at least two unforgettable plays.
One came when Allen, all 6-foot-2 and 238 pounds of him, churned toward the right sideline and cleanly hurdled a diving tackle attempt by Northwestern cornerback A.J. Hampton Jr. before being brought down.
The other came when Allen scored on a 33-yard run, shrugging off three solid tackle attempts on his final carry of the day.
Junior running back Brady Schipper, now No. 2 on the running back depth chart, grinned when asked about those two sequences.
"I don't have words for it," he said. "Some of those plays he made today, wow. It just seems like people don't want to tackle him. He's going to bring everything he's got to every run. He's really impressive and really fun to watch."
Chenal said Allen is starting to become a complete player.
"Each week he shows me something I haven't seen," Chenal said. "It's awesome.
"Whenever you can combine a running back with his speed and size and low pad level, no one in the country should be able to tackle him one-on-one. He uses his size really well and he's got speed to complement it."
Allen, who turns 18 in January, is putting on this show even though his high school classmates are still finishing up their senior years at Fond du Lac and he didn't participate in spring practice with the Badgers. The idea that he's closing in on 1,000 rushing yards after nine outings — this after it was widely assumed he would play defense at Wisconsin — is astounding.
"It was crazy because after camp and after Penn State, I opened the season and I wasn't really expecting much," Allen said. "I just kind of came in here hoping to have an impact on special teams and be ready to play. I kind of took it upon myself to be ready whenever my time came."
For some perspective, Taylor needed seven games in 2017 to reach the 1,000-yard milestone, while Dayne needed nine and White 11. Allen's next assignment comes Saturday when Nebraska (1-6, 3-7) comes to Camp Randall.
Allen said he's spoken with several of his decorated predecessors in recent weeks, including Dayne, Montee Ball, the Doak Walker winner in 2012, and Melvin Gordon, the Heisman Trophy runner-up and Doak Walker winner in 2014. Allen calls Gordon his favorite player growing up.
As for Taylor, Allen said he's reached out and "hopefully we can connect."
Chenal, from Grantsburg, said Allen compares favorably to Taylor because they both have the same grounded presence.
"You see a lot of highly-recruited guys come in and they want all the attention and the spotlight," Chenal said. "Braelon isn't that way at all. He approaches it in a very humble way."
Schipper, a walk-on from Stoughton, said Allen has impressed him in a variety of ways.
"Ever since he came in he's kept his head down and worked no matter what his situation was or what position he was at," Schipper said.
"Great teammate. Great football player. I can't say enough good things about him. He's turning into a great young man.
"He's going to be a helluva player and it's awesome to see him grow."
