High School & College
Allen played football at Abraham Lincoln High School in San Diego, California, where he played the quarterback and safety positions.
Allen played running back at the University of Southern California from 1978 to 1981. He was recruited as a defensive back, but head coach John Robinson switched him to tailback. Allen spent his first season at USC as a backup to Heisman Trophy winning running back Charles White. In 1979, he was moved to fullback. Eventually, in 1980, Allen became the starter at tailback and rushed for 1,563 yards, the third-most in the nation that year (behind senior George Rogers of S. Carolina - 1781 yards and freshman Herschel Walker of Georgia - 1,616). In 1981, Allen had one of the most spectacular seasons in NCAA history, rushing for 2,342 yards, becoming the first player in NCAA history to rush for over 2,000 yards in one season, passing the 2,000 yard mark in a loss to Washington. He also gained a total of 2,683 offensive yards, led the nation in scoring, and won the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award, and Walter Camp Award. He was also the Pac-10 Player of the Year. Allen shares the NCAA record for most 200-yard rushing games with Ricky Williams and Ron Dayne, each completing the feat twelve times.
Allen finished his four college seasons with 4,682 rushing yards, 5,232 total yards, and 46 touchdowns, while averaging 5.2 yards per carry.
USC has retired his jersey number (33), and coach Robinson has called Allen, "the greatest player I ever saw." On December 14, 2006, Allen hosted the USC Football Awards banquet at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles.
Read more about this topic: Marcus Allen
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