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Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009

Thanks to defenses, Allen relishes increased involvement

ATLANTA — Many are crediting Georgia Tech’s coaching staff for getting A-back Anthony Allen in space.

But the real credit, members of the team argue, should go to opposing defenses.

That’s right. Tech players are chalking up Allen’s 82-yard touchdown run against Clemson to the Tigers’ defense. Likewise, they’re giving Florida State’s defenders all the praise for the junior transfer’s 60-yard sprint that set up another score.

OK, sure, those suggestions might sound a bit foolish, but in all seriousness, Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson said there is nothing special he and his staff is doing to allow for Allen’s stratospheric rise up the Yellow Jackets’ statistics.

“We haven’t called any plays any different from what we would have called,” Johnson said. “It’s not anything that we consciously have done, it’s just kind of worked out that way.”

Through eight games, the slot back has just happened to stumble into 470 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns. With B-back Jonathan Dwyer commanding the team’s rushing lead with just 278 yards more than Allen, the A-back is right in the thick of Georgia Tech’s ground-churning offense.

Continuing his current pace as basically a third running option, Allen could easily amass more than 800 yards rushing by season’s end. Compare that to A-back Roddy Jones’ 690 yards as a solid No. 3 ballcarrier last season, and Allen’s exploits seem that much more remarkable.

But to explain the phenomenon surrounding Allen, look no further than the men who line up opposite him, he said.

“I guess I’m just lining up on the right side. It’s just a matter of (quarterback) Josh (Nesbitt) reading it and dealing it (pitching it) where it’s supposed to go,” Allen said nonchalantly. “People are really trying to make us beat them with our quarterback, and now that they’re starting to realize that Josh can run the ball, they have to fold down on Josh, which opens it up for the pitch. Because of course, no one wants Jon to touch the ball.”

The reigning ACC player of the year, Dwyer torched defenses for a conference-leading 1,395 yards rushing last season. This year, Nesbitt ranks just behind the junior B-back with 707 yards of his own, as teams have placed a greater emphasis on slowing down Dwyer.

“Definitely in the case of Dwyer with the year he had last year, people are just determined that they were going to stop the fullback, and they were going to make sure they take the fullback on the option and do things to keep him from getting the ball,” A-backs coach Jeff Monken said. “They were forcing Josh to run the ball in our games early on, and they were really taking the pitch hard or taking the dive hard and letting the quarterback keep the ball.”

But whenever Georgia Tech has caught a defense starting to key on Nesbitt, that’s when Allen and the outside game come alive.

Allen has already claimed six of the Yellow Jackets’ longest plays this season due to Georgia Tech’s success on the pitches.

In addition to his runs against Clemson and Florida State, he has rushed for 20 yards or more on single plays four other times. Most recently, he picked up runs of 21 yards and 20 yards on a pair of third downs against Virginia. During the 34-9 win Saturday, he also had two touchdowns.

“He’s really done a good job of just being a role guy and doing whatever we ask him to do, and when the ball gets to him, he has the ability to do good things with it,” Monken said.

A byproduct of Allen’s success has been the unanticipated decline in production from Jones. Although Jones missed the season-opener with a wrist injury he sustained during summer workouts, his lack of touches — just 25 for 93 yards — has not been planned, Johnson and Monken re-emphasized.

“We were talking (Sunday) and saying that it’s kind of ironic that Ant’s been on the receiving end of the ball more than Roddy,” Johnson said. “Roddy hasn’t carried the ball much and it’s not by design, it just kind of happened. It’s been a little bit different.”

While Allen knows that teams may begin keying on him — which could, in time lead to a decline in production — he still sees Jones, Dwyer and Nesbitt as potential playmaking threats.

Despite the uncertainty of how his future role may change, Allen is sure of this: He does not envy opposing defensive coordinators.

“I don’t want to deal with that headache,” Allen said. “It seems like a headache to me just trying to prepare yourself for the option period and then trying to prepare 22 people on defense for it?

“Not for me.”