Alabama Football Film Room: Christopher Allen gets his starting shot

Two of Alabama’s regular starters sat in the Citrus Bowl, Trevon Diggs and Terrell Lewis. We previously took a look at Josh Jobe, who filled in for Diggs. Now we’ll take a (short) look at the guy who replaced Lewis: Christopher Allen.

Allen came to Tuscaloosa as a four star recruit, and he saw action early on as a freshman. A knee injury sidelined him during 2018, but he worked his way back in 2019 and played in all 13 games. With Terrell Lewis and Anfernee Jennings both gone, Allen is the most experienced returning outside linebacker.

2nd and 3: Allen (#4) is standing up on the left side of the line. He blows up the tight end, shoving him back into the pulling right guard. This slows the guard down, but he still gets around to the outside of Allen and provides a big block. Still, Allen is able to disengage and does make the tackle.

1st and 10: Allen is on the left again. He’s matched up against the tight end, and the tight end holds up about as well as he did in the first example. Allen hits him in the chest and then yanks him to the side, getting a clear path to QB Shea Patterson. Unfortunately, there’s a wide open receiver; and Patterson is able to get rid of it before Allen can get to him.

2nd and 4: Allen is left unblocked initially, with the tight end coming across the line left to right tasked with reaching him. Allen starts to crash down, but he sees Patterson fake the handoff to the running back and give it to the receiver who had motioned into the backfield. Allen keeps forcing the ball carrier to the sideline, never letting the block control. He finally sheds it and makes the tackle for a loss.