Allen Near the End, Not the End Zone : UCLA Tight End Hopes to Close Career on High Note in Rose Bowl

The countdown to the Rose Bowl hit four days and UCLA tight end Brian Allen momentarily appeared to be the focus of the Bruin offense.

The first-team offense lined up for a two-point conversion against the scout-team defense. Backup quarterback Rob Walker, filling in while starter Wayne Cook was sidelined with flu, spotted Allen running an out pattern and delivered the ball.

Allen, the sure-handed, 6-foot-3, 230-pound veteran, grabbed it and trotted across the goal line untouched.

The offense backed up for another series. After a few running plays, Walker again found his tight end wide open, this time along the sideline. Allen had sprinted past the safety, then made a seemingly effortless catch of what would have been a 30-yard touchdown pass play.

“It’s a good play, especially if the defensive back bites,” said Allen, a senior from Hart High.

Allen doesn’t hold his breath for such opportunities in today’s Rose Bowl game against Wisconsin.

Curiously, during practice in front of a large contingent of media, he stopped short of the end zone after his long reception from Walker, turned around and flipped the ball back to a coach.

Perhaps he didn’t want to waste valuable practice time by running the extra five yards. Or perhaps Allen’s maneuver was meant to be symbolic.

After catching 109 passes in two seasons at Hart--25 of them for touchdowns--Allen expected to do more at UCLA than score in practice. But for all intents and purposes, he hasn’t.

The fifth-year senior who became a starter this season but saw plenty of action the previous two has caught 25 passes at UCLA, only two for touchdowns, and none since the middle of last season.

“I have a few plays that are designed for me--things we’ve had but haven’t really used,” he said. “I don’t get the ball a lot during games.”

After being one of the nation’s most sought-after tight ends in 1988, Allen has little to show for his half-decade at UCLA. Facing him now is the biggest--and last--game of his college career, and one last chance to make good.

“I just want a long run,” said Allen, who averages 9.5 yards per reception. “I’ve never had a long touchdown run or a long run, period, at UCLA. A 55-60 yarder for a touchdown would be nice.

“Whenever I catch the ball here, I’ve never had time to do anything. The defenses are always on me. It seems like I’m always the secondary receiver. Running the ball after the catch is something that I’ve missed. It would be nice if I could get a real good ball that I could work with and maybe do something with.”

Time is running out on Allen, if it hasn’t already. Even his own expectations have dropped.

Allen could dream of being the game’s most valuable player today, but instead his Rose Bowl fantasy is simple. Just once he’d like to break loose in the open field.

He had 1,620 yards receiving in two seasons at Hart, averaging 15 yards per catch. But at UCLA, he has 238 receiving yards. Bruin All-American wide receiver J.J. Stokes accounted for more yards than that in one game (263 vs. USC in 1992).

“At Hart, I had a lot of long runs,” said Allen, whose career long reception at UCLA is 23 yards against Oregon State in 1991. “My junior year (at Hart), we had a couple of good receivers and the defense would sag back on them and I would catch the ball underneath and have 20 yards in front of me. But it’s not like that in college.”

Opponents feared the sight of Allen in his high school days--both on offense and defense. Hart foes usually ran away from Allen’s outside linebacker position. Still, he registered 120 tackles in two seasons. He intercepted six passes, returning two for touchdowns.

He dominated.

The resume Allen brought to Westwood included first-team all-state honors by California Football magazine and first-team All-Southern Section two years in a row. The UCLA media guide claims Allen was “one of the nation’s top tight ends in 1988 . . . “

So what happened? Why have the Bruins called on Allen only in short-yardage situations? Why has his best season (1993) produced only 15 receptions?

There are many factors.

1) After redshirting his first season, then spending his second as an understudy to Charles Arbuckle (now with the Indianapolis Colts), Allen saw Rick Daly step in as UCLA’s starting tight end, taking the job Allen thought would be his.

2) A chronic lower back problem has limited Allen as a blocker, forcing the Bruins to platoon him.

3) With a recent history of big-play receivers (Mike Sherrard, Flipper Anderson, Scott Miller, Sean LaChapelle and Stokes), UCLA has not thrown to the tight end in several years. The fleet, sure-handed wide receivers make the big catches or spread defenses to set up the run.

But the biggest reason, said UCLA receivers coach Rick Neuheisel, is Allen’s lack of size.

“Out of high school, he was a terrific player, but he hasn’t grown into what the Pac-10 tight end prototype is: 250 to 255 pounds,” Neuheisel said. “Brian, at max, is 238--and that’s probably too heavy. His natural weight would be 225, 227.

“He’s, in coaching vernacular, a tweener (small for a tight end, big for a split end). He’s somewhere in between, and you have to design an offense around that.”

But UCLA still saw enough potential in Allen to do just that last spring. Not only would the Bruins look to the veteran to pick up first downs, Allen was to become a go-to receiver in UCLA’s hurry-up offense. Big receptions, long runs and touchdowns could result.

But then came Allen’s worst setback: minor knee surgery in fall practice. Allen missed the first two games and didn’t catch a pass until the fourth game of the season.

“On top of everything, I guess you could say he’s had some misfortune, too,” Neuheisel said. “Brian, as a receiver, is very gifted. But he really just wasn’t ever himself. It has not been the kind of senior year he had hoped for and that we had hoped for from him.”

Said Allen: “(The injury) was minor, but it affected me a lot. I don’t think I had my full strength until the USC game. The rest of the games I was going more on adrenalin.”

In the final days of his career, Allen catches his touchdown passes at Spaulding Field while trying to block out the disappointment.

Ironically, Allen’s first reception at UCLA went for a touchdown against San Diego State. His second catch was the 23-yarder against Oregon State in ’91. His most memorable score came later that season when he recovered a fumble in the end zone in UCLA’s 24-21 victory over USC.

“I’m not really satisfied with my career here,” Allen said. “It hasn’t been anything special. I envisioned myself really getting involved with the offense my last three years.

“But I can’t always wish for everything to go my way. I just play hard.”

If Allen needs inspiration, he can turn to Neuheisel.

Ten years ago, Neuheisel, a walk-on quarterback, emerged in his final season to lead the Bruins to the Rose Bowl, where he engineered UCLA’s 45-9 victory over Illinois, passing for 298 yards and four touchdowns, and was named player of the game.

“I played one year at quarterback here,” Neuheisel said. “I was here five years. People don’t remember the first four--they remember how the thing ended.

“So if Brian could have a great game Saturday, I think he’ll look back and say it was a great career.”

Said Allen: “I just want to catch all my passes and make sure I block solidly.

“A touchdown would be nice. I haven’t had one in a while.”