There’s no use skirting the truth. Even Keenan Allen can admit the obvious.
Put him in another uniform, say USC’s or Alabama’s, and there’d be little room for discussion: The most touted receiver entering the 2012 season would be Allen. Since he’s playing at Cal, he’s instead arguably the least-hyped superstar in college football.
“I don’t think that’s an overstatement,” Allen concedes. “Guys that are in the prestigious programs get more exposure than guys in programs like mine.”
The Bears have gone 7-6 and 5-7 in Allen’s two seasons. They haven’t been in the conference or national picture and in large part, neither has Allen.
Here, Allen inserts the ‘but.’
“I feel like I’ve done something to be seen,” he says. “I do feel like I could be known at Cal.”
The junior from Greensboro, N.C. traveled clear across the country to make a name for himself, and as he enters what will be his final season in Berkeley barring injury or setback, he intends to do that.
A first-team All-Pac-12 selection last season, Allen caught 98 passes for 1,343 yards, averaging 13.7 yards per reception. Still, he played in the shadows of the USC duo of Robert Woods and Marqise Lee. Sammy Watkins at Clemson and Justin Blackmon of Oklahoma State garnered more headlines.
Somehow, outside of the Pac-12, Allen stayed under the radar. But, it’s hard to keep a low profile when you’re 6-3 and 205 pounds. He has a body similar to former Notre Dame receiver Michael Floyd (6-3, 224) and the hands of Blackmon—both 2012 NFL first-round picks.
But here are two critical success factors Allen doesn’t have: a big-armed quarterback and breakaway speed. Both attributed to the fact that he had only six touchdown catches all season.
His brother, Zach Maynard, is the Bears’ starting quarterback. Maynard went to Buffalo to play for Turner Gill and when Gill left for Kansas, Maynard wanted out, too. At the same time, Allen was a five-star recruit who’d committed to Alabama. The two decided they wanted to play together. Maynard, as a high schooler, attended a camp at Cal and said that’s where he wanted to go. The decision was made. Their parents made it to four games last season.
And here they are, trying to make each other better.
“I trust my brother,” Allen said. “What we’ve been through on the field, I know what he’s capable of. I know he can make the plays. I’d rather have my brother throwing me the ball than (USC All-America quarterback) Matt Barkley.”
Allen says he doesn’t worry about the lack of an elite quarterback on the roster; it’s not in his nature.
“My confidence,” he said. “I know how to control my confidence, but on the football field, I go into this mode where I feel like I’m unstoppable.”
But he’s not. Allen admits he can be a better downfield blocker and that he doesn’t have the blistering speed that some might possess. He couldn’t work on either this offseason. Allen sprained two ligaments in his ankle playing basketball and underwent surgery. Three weeks ago he started doing straight-ahead running and shortly thereafter planned to start making cuts. While he sat out, he studied more than film than he has at any point in his career.
He’ll need to be completely healthy to reach his goals this season of winning the Biletnikoff Award and the Heisman. An African-American studies major, Allen says he’ll “probably” leave if he has a big season.
That’s nearly a given.
