In his second season Allen's combined total yards, not including special teams gains was 940 yards. That is not super star combined yardage at all, however he was Notre Dame’s third leading receiver. That is telling.
Most backs have much more yards on the ground but don’t usually accumulate more than a hundred yards receiving, at most usually not more than 150. There are always exceptions. For example, this season Knowshon Moreno had 392 yards receiving—it is really based on the offensive schemes, but that’s another article for a later date.
A sophomore running back getting that many receiving yards with Golden Tate, Michael Floyd, Kyle Rudolph, David Grimes, and Duval Kamara, all being in the above average to excellent category as far as wide receivers go Allen was the third leading receiver. No other running back on Notre Dame’s roster was even close. The reason behind this is the fact that Armando Allen is deadly in space. He can cover a lot of ground when he plays confidently. He is the best screen runner Notre Dame has and could end up being the best they have had in a long time.
The knock on Armando coming out of high school was that he wasn’t that great between the tackles, but he had the speed to kill teams on the edge or in space. That ability to get yards out of the screen is what makes Armando a deadly back.
The touchdown that he scored against Hawaii off the screen was a 21-yard touchdown screen pass. Too bad they were at Hawaii’s 21 because had they been at their side of the field it would have been so much prettier to see Armando Allen run the majority of the field.
No Hawaii player was going to catch him on that play. On another play he broke for a 41-yard gain, also on a screen pass, and had a few Hawaii players not been fast on their reads and gotten the angles correct he would have had another long score.
The talent is there without a doubt. As the season wore on he began to see the field better and better, and gain confidence. If you look at his kick return in the Hawaii game, you see that he was playing with the speed that comes from knowing exactly what you have to do.
If there is anyone that can improve Armando and bring him to a new level as a junior, it is running backs coach Tony Alford. Alford has a track record of making backs run well in the zone system. It seems like any back he worked with improved and kept improving. Armando will benefit from his no-nonsense approach to practice and work ethic. Of course being trained in the finer points of reading the zone blocks will not hurt either.
Don’t give up on Armando Allen just yet. It can take a long time for a running back to recover mentally from an injury and get back into the groove of things. Towards the end of the season it seemed that Armando was ready to take that step—he has certainly done so on special teams. I fully expect Armando Allen to surprise some people in 2009.
He has all the right physical talents to be a good back, but has suffered from injuries in and struggled behind a woeful offensive line. He is the style of back that works in a zone blocking system as pointed out by the earlier mentioned zone blocking article by Anthony Pilcher.
The three other backs, Gray, Aldrdge, and Hughes are all better at the straight ahead-downhill rushing style with limited cuts. Armando has the footwork to take advantage of cutback lanes, and if he learns patience, with adjusting to the developing play. If Armando finally grasps the concept in the off season he will be an explosive back that will open up the running game for the rest of the backs. Armando Allen is primed to really show off next season. I don’t think his kick return in the Hawaii game will be his last either.
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