26 Days Until FSU Football: No. 26 Greg Allen Obliterates FSU Record Books

There are 26 days left until Florida State football starts the 2018 season. As part of the offseason, we’re highlighting players, games, and specific moments from FSU football history.

On Tuesday, it was the FSU single-season record of 27 made field goals held by three different Florida State kickers.

Today, it’s Greg Allen who rewrote the FSU rushing records while donning the No. 26.

Allen went from a 5-foot-10, 185-pound back from Milton, Florida to a 6-0, 200-pound bruiser over his four years in Tallahassee. Regardless of his stature, Allen was a contributor from the very start.

When it comes to great backs in FSU history, Allen was the precursor to the likes of Warrick Dunn and Dalvin Cook. Allen left Florida State with a school-record 3,769 yards rushing and 46 total touchdowns with 44 of those coming on the ground.

Allen earned Freshman All-American honors in 1981 by rushing for 888 yards, which included an FSU single-game record 322 yards rushing in a win over Western Carolina — a record that remains until this day. Allen’s rushing numbers dipped as a sophomore in 1982, but for the first time in his career, he eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark when it came to total offense.

Greg Allen’s 20 rushing touchdowns in 1982 remains an FSU record. (Garnet and Great, FSU archivist)

Allen rushed for a career-high 1,134 yards in 1983, joining Mark Lyles as the only FSU players ever to rush for 1,000 yards in a season while earning Consensus All-American honors. In nine games in 1984, Allen fell just shy of duplicating that feat with 971 yards on the ground.

More than 30 years later and Allen remains third all-time at FSU in career rushing yards and second behind only Dalvin Cook in career rushing touchdowns. His 20 rushing touchdowns in 1982 remains a school-record. In addition to his single-game rushing yardage record, Allen is tied with Cook and Antone Smith for the single-game rushing touchdown record with four. Both Allen and Cook accomplished that feat twice.

In addition to all of the records, Allen finished his FSU career with a six yards per carry average. Allen was the first FSU rusher to break the 200-yard rushing mark in a game and went on to do so on five occasions, which is more than any other FSU back ever. Allen was inducted into the Florida State Hall of Fame in 1990.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson