Kentucky's running game behind Derrick Locke and Randall Cobb is a weapon that teams will turn their focus to all season long. Yet, Kentucky had a spot to fill after fullback John Conner took his game to the Big Apple to play for the Jets. If you have watched any of the HBO's Hard Knocks, then you would know that Conner left a huge spot to fill.
The replacement that Coach Phillips had in mind did not want to be UK's next fullback at first. Moncell Allen was a tailback, and that is where he wanted to play. Allen soon changed his mind after talking to his teammates and Joker about playing at the fullback spot. Chip Cosby updates us in this article courtesy of the Lexington Herald Leader. Here are some excerpts.
"I wasn't too happy at all about it," Allen said. "I heard it from teammates that Joker was talking about moving me to fullback. I said, 'Man, I ain't going to fullback until he comes and talks to me.' "
Phillips did eventually approach Allen, and he broke it down to him in simple terms. At tailback, Allen would have been behind Derrick Locke, Donald Russell and perhaps even talented freshman Raymond Sanders. At fullback, he could step right into a starting role.
"I said, 'Do you want to be in this stance (with your helmet in your hand on the sidelines) or do you want to be in this stance (hand on the ground in fullback position)?" Phillips said.
Locke, one of Allen's closest friends on the team, got in on the sales job.
"We really had a long talk about it," Locke said. "I told him how much I needed him and how much the offense needed him, and he couldn't be selfish in his decision. He wasn't going to play a lot of tailback with me back there, and I told him he needed to start thinking about his future and his family. If I do my thing and NFL scouts are looking at me, those same scouts are going to be looking at him. If scouts are looking at certain linebackers, he's out there busting 'em up, they're going to notice him. I told him to take advantage of the opportunity. We're all trying to get this money."
Phillips said the attention Conner has received is helping to overcome the negative stigma associated with fullbacks.
"They all saw Hard Knocks, they saw all the plays where you run into people all day, and don't touch the ball," Phillips said. "But they also saw the praise that (Conner) was getting across the country on that. I was talking to one of the scouts, and the reason that John Conner was rated as the No. 1 fullback coming out is because he knew what he was. The fullbacks across the country, they've still got this tailback mentality. John Conner knew he was a fullback. We convinced Moncell he's a fullback. That will help us convince the next person they're a fullback. The position is not going to get much glory, but they are very valuable to us in this football team."
Running backs coach Larry Brinson said that Allen (listed at 5-foot-7, 232 pounds) is a more natural fit at fullback than Conner, who was 4 inches taller.
"He's made for it," Brinson said. "He doesn't have to bend. John was a taller guy and had to bend. Moncell's already at that level. He's low to the ground and just runs into people. He gets up under you and he's powerful and explosive, and he doesn't have a neck. A long-neck guy would have problems."
Allen's first game at fullback was a rousing success, as he sent Louisville bodies flying all over the place in helping Locke to a 104-yard performance. Allen delivered a pivotal block that sprang Locke loose on the left side for a 1-yard TD that put the Cats up 13-0.
Now that Allen has had a much-talked-about debut, Phillips feels like the sales job is just about complete.
"It helps that he had success," he said. "Everybody saw it. The world saw him. The world saw him mowing people down. I think that helps convince himself it's not a bad gig after all."
