Georgia Tech entered spring practice with two freshmen at one of the most critical positions on the offense.
The Yellow Jackets head into the offseason with a situation at the B-back position that is quite different. The primary candidates are now a little-used junior who is now on his third position change and a graduate transfer from Stanford.
Tech is more than four months away from its season opener against Alcorn State, but the uncertainty surrounding junior Marcus Allen and transfer Patrick Skov, combined with injuries to freshmen C.J. Leggett and Quaide Weimerskirch, lend intrigue and curiosity to the offseason.
“I feel a lot more comfortable this time coming back to it,” Allen said.
Skov, who will graduate from Stanford in June, announced Tuesday his intentions to transfer and enroll in Tech’s MBA program on Twitter. A blocking back in Stanford’s hard-nosed offense who was often used in goal-line and short-yardage situations, Skov will have immediate eligibility and has one remaining season.
Skov wrote that Tech “offers me a unique opportunity. I relish the chance to join the Yellow Jackets in their ongoing pursuit of the ACC Championship.”
Allen arrived at Tech in 2012 as a highly regarded B-back prospect who turned down Nebraska and Florida State, among others, to play for the Jackets. He also, though, had played only two years of football, and his lack of knowledge and experience revealed itself.
“When I first got here, they would say things to me like tell me to block the 2-I or the 4-I and I had no idea what they were talking about,” said Allen, referring to terminology that identifies defensive linemen based on their position along the line.
After one season, Allen moved to linebacker. He stayed there for his redshirt freshman and sophomore seasons. Deep on the depth chart, he moved to wide receiver late last season. Through two seasons, he played in only five games.
“When I got recruited, they told me that when I came here, that they thought I could play a lot of positions,” Allen said. “I didn’t know how literal they were going to be.”
He had begun the spring at wide receiver when wide receivers coach Buzz Preston called him to his office to tell him Johnson wanted to speak with him. Allen said he had no idea why he was being summoned, but soon found out he was going back to B-back after Weimerskirch, an early enrollee freshman, had suffered a foot injury that required surgery and has put his availability for the season in question.
“I said, ‘OK, Coach, whatever I can do to help the team,’” Allen said.
The switch became far more significant when Leggett tore an ACL last Wednesday in the final spring-practice workout before the spring game, putting him out for the season. Suddenly in the spotlight, Allen demonstrated that he could be a sufficient solution at B-back, the hard-driving position from where Synjyn Days and Zach Laskey helped power the Jackets to the Orange Bowl last season.
In Friday’s spring game, Allen ran hard, broke tackles and finished with 14 carries for a game-high 77 yards along with two catches for 42 yards.
“He didn’t go down,” Johnson said. “He made some plays in the passing game, caught the ball. It was good to see.”
Less than a month ago, Allen was barely a blip on the wide receiver depth chart. Now, he could be a feature player on a top-25 team. Allen believes his tour of the offense and defense has prepared him for his second opportunity at B-back.
“I think just my overall knowledge of football has held me back,” Allen said. “Now that I’ve played so many positions and just learned so much about the game, I’m right up there with the other guys.”
Though he has played little, he has made an impression on Johnson.
“Whatever you ask him to do, he does it with a smile and goes and gives you 100 percent,” Johnson said. “He’s a great kid.”
The summer ahead for Allen and Skov likely entails plenty of workout time with quarterbacks Justin Thomas and Tim Byerly, learning the offense and rehearsing the mesh point where the quarterback and the B-back share the ball before the quarterback opts to either give or keep it. While the position is critical — the offense doesn’t function well without the establishment of the B-back running game — former B-backs Anthony Allen, David Sims, Days and Laskey all played different positions before finding success there.
Allen and Skov will be joined by signees Marcus Marshall and Mikell Lands-Davis, who will also have the opportunity to challenge for playing time.
Following the spring game, Allen expressed his desire to lead by example for the offense, which has several freshmen and sophomores at the skill positions. He acknowledged a limitation.
“Even though I’m an older guy, I’m also like a new guy to the offense,” he said.
With Skov, he’ll have company.
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