Allen hopes his new role is starting QB
Kyle Allen dealt with multiple personalities all of last season.
He spent time as Baker Mayfield in the leadup to the season opener against Oklahoma.
There were the weeks he pretended to be Cincinnati’s Hayden Moore and Tulsa’s Dane Evans, and ran Navy’s triple-option as Will Worth.
He even did his best to impersonate Lamar Jackson, the Heisman Trophy winner from Louisville.
As the scout-team quarterback for the University of Houston, Allen’s job was to simulate opposing teams’ quarterbacks during the week of practice.
It also was the price to pay for his transfer from Texas A&M, where he once was a five-star prospect and the Aggies’ quarterback of the future.
“It was tough,” Allen said of having to sit out last season per NCAA rules. “(But) at the end, I wouldn’t change a thing. That last year, I grew a lot as a person and as a player. It was a year I needed. I don’t think I was mature enough my freshman and sophomore year. Last year gave me time to reflect and grow as a person, as a player and become the man that I am right now.”
As the Cougars began spring workouts Monday, Allen enters as the presumptive favorite to win the starting job among a group of four challengers.
By the time the Cougars wrap up practice in midApril, first-year coach Major Applewhite expects “to have a pecking order” heading into preseason camp. Then he does not plan for much suspense, preferring to name a starter well in advance of the Sept. 2 season opener at UTSA.
“I’m not going to let (the decision) linger,” Applewhite said.
‘Right decision’
Houston wasn’t on the radar as a potential landing spot for Allen until he heard from former coach Tom Herman and Applewhite, then the Cougars’ offensive coordinator.
“I was just open to anything,” Allen said. “Coach Herman called me when I was transferring. I wasn’t really thinking about (Houston.) Coach Applewhite was huge in getting me here. Just the style of offense that we run here and knowledge that he brings to the game is really second to none in my opinion. I’ve learned a lot coming here – and I think I made the right decision.”
Allen also has a chance at a fresh start, if not redemption, after a hasty exit from Aggieland.
In two seasons with the Aggies, Allen played in 20 games (14 starts) and threw for more than 3,500 yards and 33 touchdowns. Allen was the starter as a true freshman, but the following season he bounced back and forth between starter and backup with another heralded signee, Kyler Murray. The two quarterbacks left Texas A&M within weeks of each other in December 2015.
The timing of Allen’s arrival at UH provided the perfect bridge following the graduation of Greg Ward Jr., the starter the past 2½ seasons. It also gave the Cougars another option — along with senior Kyle Postma — with college game experience at the position.
“There’s no substitution for game experience,” Applewhite said. “That’s something he brings in.”
Along with Allen, the Cougars’ list of quarterback challengers includes Postma, who has been used as an injury replacement each of the last two seasons, sophomore D’Eriq King and redshirt freshman Bowman Sells. Postma is out for the spring with a wrist injury, and King, who spent last season at receiver, will be limited as he recovers from a knee injury. Sells missed Monday’s first practice with an infection.
“It’s going to be a great competition,” Allen said. “We have a great (quarterback) room. It’s always better when you have a room full of great competition than when you don’t have any competition, because you can get complacent.”
Watching and learning
In his limited role, Allen said he “took a lot of mental reps.” He spent time observing Ward and how the Cougars’ offense runs. And he was able to test himself against a UH defense he calls “the hardest in (the American Athletic Conference.)”
But there were limitations.
“For 25 days, he was a Houston quarterback,” Applewhite said. “Once we got into the season, he was a scout-team quarterback.”
The transition to a new quarterback comes with a few wrinkles, especially when going from a dualthreat like Ward who did a lot of improvising to Allen, a pocket passer.
“Greg is different from virtually 125 or 126 quarterbacks in FBS,” Applewhite said.
Regardless who starts the season under center, Applewhite said the next month is for learning.
“I want them to understand that spring is where you take your chances,” Applewhite said. “It’s where you fail. We want guys to fail. We want them to know what their limits are so that they can have learning experiences.”