FORT BRANCH, Ind. — So I screwed up tonight and got to Gibson Southern High School for Purdue quarterback commitment Brady Allen's game vs. Heritage Hills with just 37 minutes of battery power for my video camera, the risk you run when your affinity for old equipment comes back to bite you.
Didn't matter one bit.
Tonight, following Gibson Southern's surgical 42-3 win over what has historically been a very good Southern Indiana program, I still have 25 of those 37 minutes left on that battery. With Allen on the field, the Titans — I keep wanting to say Trojans because of the USC uniforms — scored quickly and scored often.
Allen and his team, as they have against every in-state team they've played this season, dominated, to the point where he threw just one pass after halftime, didn't play most of the second half, and gave us a running clock. Hooray.
The final numbers looked like this: 11-of-13 passing, 182 yards and touchdowns of nine, 10 and 63 yards. His completion percentage for the season now stands around 75 percent this season and he's thrown 19 touchdowns without an interception, though Gibson Southern did turn it over tonight on an incomplete lateral that went down essentially as a fumble.
Allen's been razor-sharp all season and sure was tonight.
Clearly much more on the same page with his receivers as he was at this time a year ago — after personnel turned over quite a bit after his sophomore season — he was accurate as can be, the lateral being the one exception, if that counts. He was especially accurate, I thought, in the confined spaces of the red zone, where accuracy matters a little bit more.
The one deep ball he hit was picturesque. He had a month to throw, and Allen used it well, looking off an initial progression to his right, then throwing back to the left to a wide-open receiver streaking down the sideline.
Check it out. (Full video to come whenever I can get to it.)
He wasn't pressured all that much, but when he was, he handled it, first on a prudent throwaway outside the pocket and later on a scramble for about a dozen yards, a pretty savvy run by a player who's a good enough overall athlete to be credible with his legs. I don't have rushing stats, but he probably ran for 30-35 yards. He ran the ball very effectively when he needed to. He's not needed to very often, I don't think.
Long story short here: I think this guy has everything you want in a quarterback at this stage of his career, starting with great size — he looks bigger than when I last saw him, as tends to happen for teenage males with the chronological passage of time — and obviously a live arm. I don't know if he has that Kyle Orton rocket-launcher, but he definitely can get it where it needs to go, and he seems to throw a catchable ball.
When I watch recruits, I always try to look for what they're not good at, too, where they need to get better. Nothing jumps off the page at me here, though I'm sure there's probably something somewhere.
Obviously, the game changes profoundly at the college level, but Allen has all the physical tools you want, I think. He seems to have strong intangibles insofar as I can tell. He seems like a solid individual and a smart fellow. He's producing and and he's winning.
Pretty solid combination there.
Now, here's the highlight of his senior season. This video interview.
Didn't matter one bit.
Tonight, following Gibson Southern's surgical 42-3 win over what has historically been a very good Southern Indiana program, I still have 25 of those 37 minutes left on that battery. With Allen on the field, the Titans — I keep wanting to say Trojans because of the USC uniforms — scored quickly and scored often.
Allen and his team, as they have against every in-state team they've played this season, dominated, to the point where he threw just one pass after halftime, didn't play most of the second half, and gave us a running clock. Hooray.
The final numbers looked like this: 11-of-13 passing, 182 yards and touchdowns of nine, 10 and 63 yards. His completion percentage for the season now stands around 75 percent this season and he's thrown 19 touchdowns without an interception, though Gibson Southern did turn it over tonight on an incomplete lateral that went down essentially as a fumble.
Allen's been razor-sharp all season and sure was tonight.
Clearly much more on the same page with his receivers as he was at this time a year ago — after personnel turned over quite a bit after his sophomore season — he was accurate as can be, the lateral being the one exception, if that counts. He was especially accurate, I thought, in the confined spaces of the red zone, where accuracy matters a little bit more.
The one deep ball he hit was picturesque. He had a month to throw, and Allen used it well, looking off an initial progression to his right, then throwing back to the left to a wide-open receiver streaking down the sideline.
Check it out. (Full video to come whenever I can get to it.)
He wasn't pressured all that much, but when he was, he handled it, first on a prudent throwaway outside the pocket and later on a scramble for about a dozen yards, a pretty savvy run by a player who's a good enough overall athlete to be credible with his legs. I don't have rushing stats, but he probably ran for 30-35 yards. He ran the ball very effectively when he needed to. He's not needed to very often, I don't think.
Long story short here: I think this guy has everything you want in a quarterback at this stage of his career, starting with great size — he looks bigger than when I last saw him, as tends to happen for teenage males with the chronological passage of time — and obviously a live arm. I don't know if he has that Kyle Orton rocket-launcher, but he definitely can get it where it needs to go, and he seems to throw a catchable ball.
When I watch recruits, I always try to look for what they're not good at, too, where they need to get better. Nothing jumps off the page at me here, though I'm sure there's probably something somewhere.
Obviously, the game changes profoundly at the college level, but Allen has all the physical tools you want, I think. He seems to have strong intangibles insofar as I can tell. He seems like a solid individual and a smart fellow. He's producing and and he's winning.
Pretty solid combination there.
Now, here's the highlight of his senior season. This video interview.
