Desert Mountain alum Allen leads Texas A&M against ASU

by Paola Boivin

By MAURICIO CASILLAS
Cronkite News

Before Kyle Allen was the starting quarterback at Texas A&M getting ready to face off against No. 15 Arizona State Saturday, he was an undersized player at Scottsdale’s Desert Mountain High School just trying to make it.

“At first I was worried, because I didn’t think he would be tall enough,” said Tony Tabor, Allen’s high school coach. “He definitely went through a growth spurt. His dad’s 5-foot-10 and his mom’s even shorter. Kyle grew to 6-foot-3. He’s got those intangibles. He’s gifted athletically and also very smart.”

Allen was the top rated quarterback in the country for the 2014 class, according to Rivals. Despite being from the Valley, Allen did not include Arizona State in a top five potential schools list he posted two Twitter in May 2013. Less than a week later, Allen announced via Twitter that he was committing to Texas A&M.

Even though the Sun Devils recruited Allen heavily, they are not concerned with the fact that he chose a different school.

“We’re evaluating Kyle Allen, and we’re evaluating him as an opposing quarterback and looking at the things he does well and maybe the things that we can take advantage of,” ASU head coach Todd Graham said. “We don’t worry about all that because, you know, there is too much about getting your team prepared to play than worry about that.”

In his three seasons as a starter at Desert Mountain, Allen threw for more than 8,000 yards and 86 touchdowns. In 2014 he was named a U.S. Army All-American.

“I’ve been coaching for 22 years and I’ve seen some pretty good kids. But nobody like Kyle,” said Tabor, now an assistant at Mesa’s Mountain View High School. “His success wasn’t by chance. He’s wanted to be good since he was a little kid, and he’s worked for it.”

After graduating a semester early from high school, Allen was thrust into one of the most important quarterback competitions in the country in the summer of 2014. He was fighting to be the starting quarterback that would replace A&M legend Johnny Manziel. Allen ultimately lost the battle to sophomore Kenny Hill.

“Kyle had the pressure of trying to replace one of the most flamboyant and flashy quarterbacks in Manziel, and then in (Kenny Hill’s) first game as a starter he throws for over 500 yards,” Tabor said. “Kyle waited his time.”

Hill would only end up starting the first eight games for the Aggies. He was suspended for two games for breaking team rules, and after that Allen took over the reins. Allen closed out the season by throwing for 1,322 yards, 16 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

“I think he’s done what he’s always done. There’s never been a time where he stopped working,” Tabor said. “He deserves it and it’s nice to see that he’s doing well.”

Allen went through another quarterback competition this offseason, but he was able to beat out freshman Kyler Murray for the starting job. Allen was officially named the starter on Aug. 24 and he has been focused on game one against the Sun Devils since then.

“It’s unbelievable that he gets to play in Houston, and especially since it’s against ASU,” Tabor said. “There’s going be a chip on both teams’ shoulders. ASU really liked him, but he wanted to do something else. He wanted to play in the best conference in college football. Now he’s got the opportunity to play against guys from back home.”

Allen’s quarterback counterpart on Arizona State is Mike Bercovici. The redshirt senior quarterback is also entering his first season as a starter. He understands what Allen could have brought to the Sun Devils, but he is leaving Allen’s choice to become an Aggie in the past.

“It was unfortunate. You don’t always get all the best players of Arizona, but I know he made a good decision where he wanted to go,” Bercovici said. “I think our defense is excited about playing an opportunity where they have a very athletic group. You don’t get a lot of opportunities like this in college football, especially Arizona State, to come out with an opponent like this.”

At 19 years old, Allen has to deal with the stress of leading one of college football’s best programs. Tabor said Allen is prepared for it all.

“Kyle did a pretty good job with dealing with all the pressure. He was named the No. 1 quarterback in the country, was an All-American, and was a part of the Elite 11. He always remained humble,” Tabor said. “I really mean this, it couldn’t have happened to a better man. A lot of people want to bring a guy like that down, but he’s not a fluke.”