Mark Allen Suffers Season Ending Injury

There was a bit of confusion when senior running back Mark Allen didn’t take the field with the rest of the Penn State team on Friday night.

On Tuesday afternoon, James Franklin confirmed the worst.

Allen suffered an injury in practice last week that will end his season likely his career.

The redshirt running back could theoretically appeal for a sixth year, as he only played in three games this season, but there’s no guarantee of that succeeding and, even so, he could find himself buried behind Ricky Slade, transfer CJ Holmes and incoming freshman Devyn Ford should Miles Sanders enter the NFL draft.

Allen came to Penn State as a 3-star recruit out of DeMatha Catholic (MD) in Bill O’Brien’s 2014 class.

Considered an afterthought by many, Allen has put together a solid career as a third-down back known mostly for his receiving out of the backfield and impressive pass protection given his small stature.

He finishes his career with 349 yards and four touchdowns on 88 career carries. This season, Allen had carried the ball 23 times for 98 yards and a pair of scores while splitting the backup role with the aforementioned Slade.