Davis Allen's Selflessness Paying Dividends for Clemson Offense
"The fun is in the winning" is just one of the several mottos Dabo Swinney has engraved into his program in the last 12 years.
Clemson has enjoyed its share of winning and the Tigers have certainly had some fun along the way, just ask tight end, Davis Allen.
With the return of Braden Galloway along with J.C. Chalk and Jaylen Lay, Davis Allen is part of arguably one of the best and deepest tight end units in Tiger football history.
For the 6-6, 260 pound sophomore from Georgia, it's been an exciting ride so far. The second-year Tiger is making his presence felt within the Clemson offense.
"I'm thankful to be a part of something like this, I really am," Allen said. "I'm thankful that I get to be a part of an offense that has Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne. Our o-line has done an amazing job this year and they lead the way. It's hard not to be successful when you've got coaches like Coach (Tony) Elliott, Coach (Brandon) Streeter, and Coach (Danny) Pearman and all the support staff. They work their tails off and make it easy for us."
Allen caught his first career touchdown pass on a 22-yard reception vs. No. 7 Miami and hauled in three passes for 67 yards and a touchdown at Georgia Tech last week. He became the first Clemson tight end with a touchdown in back-to-back games since Jordan Leggett in 2016.
While everyone loves to score touchdowns, Allen is just an advocate of the game and enjoys the process and simply being a part of a team.
"It's nice scoring touchdowns, that is fine," Allen said. "But I like the game. I like to play, I like to be out there with my teammates.
His physicality and selflessness have already been put on display this season. During the Tigers' showdown against the then-7th ranked Hurricanes, he not only caught a touchdown but provided a textbook block on the edge which allowed Etienne to burst down the sideline for a 72-yard housecall.
"Yeah, those blocks are fun," Allen said. "I didn't really know where Travis was behind me. I kind of just looked up and saw him do his thing and he took off. It brought a lot of joy and the play just came together and went to perfection. That was probably the highlight, I think I liked that better than the TD catch honestly. It was just a play that came together, Will Putnam had a great block on it and it was executed well."
Galloway garnered most of the tight end hype heading into the 2020 season but entering Saturday's ACC tilt with Syracuse, both have 151 yards receiving and two touchdowns.
Allen comes with a workman's attitude and is committed to polishing his craft on the football field which was his top priority heading into fall camp.
"I believe that if I put in the hard work and do what I'm supposed to do, the good Lord will take care of everything else. That was my focus going into fall camp, just getting better and doing my job well."
Coach Swinney told the media during camp that Galloway was building great chemistry with Lawrence this summer and that he was 'a real problem'. Add Allen into the mix and things all of the sudden become more worrisome still when defending the Tiger offense.
"Having us both on the field creates more options and I think it makes the defense think about more stuff and creates more problems," Allen said. "It is really fun being out there with Braden, I enjoy it."
