Then a freshman, Allen suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in a 63-47 loss to Michigan that ended his season and kept him out for six months.
“I just had to stay with positive energy and think every day it’s going to get better,” he said. “At first, I was down on myself, and I was hard on myself. I just felt depressed.”
Not only was Allen restricted by rehabilitating his injured knee during the spring, he had to learn a new defensive scheme — without being able to practice it on the field.
When Brian Knorr replaced Doug Mallory as defensive coordinator Jan. 20, he began implementing a 3-4 defensive scheme, opposed to IU’s old 4-3 scheme. Allen dedicated his time to studying the playbook and watching film so he could be back with his team come fall.
He said safeties coach Noah Joseph was instrumental in his recovery.
“It was a struggle at first because I was in rehab every day, and I couldn’t go with the team to film,” Allen said. “Coach Joseph helps me out a lot. I’ll go upstairs in his room, and he just helps me every day.”
Joseph, who has been with the team since February, said it was this desire and commitment to getting healthy again that impressed him most.
“He does a good job of prioritizing his time,” Joseph said. “He’ll watch extra film and do the little things that can help make you a better football player.”
Allen, who was nicknamed “Woo” by his Ben Davis teammates in high school for the fans’ roaring reactions after a hard hit, brought that same hard-nosed mentality to the IU secondary last season.
In just half a season, he had 35 tackles and a recovered fumble.
And in his first career start as a true freshman, Allen had nine tackles against Michigan before sustaining the ACL tear.
“He’s a tough, no-nonsense football player and person, and I think that just rubs off on everyone and kind of gives our defense an identity out there,” Joseph said.
Throughout the summer, Allen has regained confidence in himself, and so have the coaches. That showed when Allen took the field with IU’s first team during fall camp last week.
Joseph said he’s watched Allen make enormous progress from May until now and expects him to be a staple in the IU secondary.
“It’s hard in the Big Ten to say you can play one guy every snap at a certain position, but he’s definitely going to be our main guy back there,” Joseph said. “I think he’s the guy that the whole secondary and defense leans on.”
