He's just been tremendous. He knew we were counting on him this year.

We have high expectations. We have skilled players returning and we have been executing well in practice and [in the team's first scrimmage Aug. 13 against Montour].

He's probably a better pass blocker than a run blocker. But he's such a big kid with such an upside. He can be a great run blocker.

You just can't make the mistakes we made. We had to play a perfect game tonight and we did not. We dropped some passes early and if you give them opportunities, they take advantage of them.

I was a little bit nervous giving a young kid that much responsibility, but [Allen] is a very intelligent kid. He is one of those kids who comes to practice and doesn't say, 'Boo.' But what he does do is work hard every day to get better. He has been a big surprise for us.

We felt we had three kids with whom we'd be comfortable getting the ball into their hands at running back. They are different in the way they run the ball, and that has been an advantage. We are blessed with the fact we can interchange those guys.