With Pac-12 Media Day comes excitement and anticipation for the upcoming season.
Few may be more excited to get back to the field than Oregon wide receiver Devon Allen.
Allen, an alumnus of Brophy College Prep, has quite the resume up in Eugene. The redshirt sophomore is already a 2014 national champion in track and was also a go-to target for the Ducks football team before he tore his ACL during the College Football Playoff semi-final game against Florida State.
“He’s battling. Devon is a competitive guy,” Oregon head football coach Mark Helfrich told Sports360AZ.com at Pac-12 Media Days. “To give you an indication of where he is, there was a difficult decision to be made as to whether he could compete in track.”
Allen decided to sit out of the summer track season this year to rehab his knee.
“It was non-contact, just one of those sickening (injuries). There are no explanations, just one of those weird deals.”
Allen not only has the opportunity to add a national championship for football and track over the coming years, but he also has a shot at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
“Going forward, we are excited where he is, but you can’t put a six, eight week…deadline for him,” Helfrich said.
The speedster had 41 catches on the year and seven touchdowns in 2015.
Helfrich is hoping Allen can provide consistency for whoever may be under center for the Ducks this season, whether it be Eastern Washington transfer Vernon Adams or Jeff Lockie, to help bridge the offense from 2015 Heisman Tropjy winner Marcus Mariota.
And once he hits the field, good luck keeping up.
Jordan Hamm
