UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Marcus Allen was too busy smiling and dancing in the locker room to realize who was holding his phone.
“I honestly don’t know,” the Nittany Lions’ senior safety said. “It’s not no planned thing. … It’s just like hurry up and scroll and oh yeah, play this song. … We just try and give a glimpse of how it is in our locker room and how much fun we have after a win.”
Such is life when the No. 2 Nittany Lions are undefeated and riding high, sending out one viral locker room celebration video after the next with the fun-loving Allen at the center of it all. On a Penn State defense that’s limited opponents to an average of 9.6 points per game and created 18 takeaways thus far, there’s a lot of reason to celebrate.
Don’t tell that to James Franklin and the Lions, of course, whose laser-focused approach on Urban Meyer’s No. 6 Buckeyes kicked in shortly after the clock struck midnight on Sunday, around the same time Allen’s latest post-game celebration video amassed 7,170 retweets and 21,670 likes.
LOADED !!!!!!???♂️ pic.twitter.com/R4bbMOaAuR
— Marcus Allen (@Chico_Hndrxx) October 22, 2017
“Marcus definitely brings a different aspect to the locker room,” senior Curtis Cothran said. The defensive tackle recalled wondering if Allen, once a hyped-up freshman, would one day mellow out with age, but laughed and said he’s pretty sure that will never happen.
“You see the videos of him dancing, clowning around, having fun. That's something that, for a while, we were missing,” Cothran said. “We didn't have anyone to joke around with or bring up the energy in the locker room in a more positive way. He's done that for us. On the field, he's running around and having a good time. He just brings good vibes and good energy. He brings that everywhere.”
On a defense that was supposed to be the question mark surrounding this team, the Lions have answered the bell so far and will have their toughest task to date coming up Saturday night in The Horseshoe against an Ohio State offense that’s ranked No. 3 in total offense in the nation. But this defense goes beyond the dancing and grinning Allen – who said in July that "I don't think having fun is illegal" – and can be traced back to two more seniors.
Cornerback Grant Haley and middle linebacker Jason Cabinda have also proven during their collegiate careers to be difference makers for a program that’s returned to its highest ranking in the AP Poll since 1999. If one puts the three members of the same recruiting class together, it creates for a bevy of experience – 99 starts in all. It also makes for the meshing of three different personalities that appeals to the entire defense. All three made an immediate impact on the field as true freshmen, but their intangibles also impressed their teammates and the coaches right away.
“The thing that's so cool is they're all so intelligent and articulate and those types of things, just they're packaged differently,” Franklin said this week. “Marcus is crazy and Grant is more reserved. I could see Marcus being on some type of movie or comedy show. And I could see Grant running for politics one day.
“Then you have Jason Cabinda who is probably one of the more natural charismatic leaders I've been around,” he continued. “Jason has very strong opinions on things, which is also why I think he's such a good leader ...because when Jason opens his mouth and says something he says it with conviction, he believes it in his heart.”
Or, as Allen put it more bluntly, Cabinda is the guy who is “gonna let you know what it is and what it ain’t.”
There’s no sugar coating it with Cabinda, but with an experienced defense and a core group of players that have been part of the program’s rise back to national prominence, the standard is set by these three who then take leadership of their position groups.
It was Allen who blocked the field goal that Haley then scooped up and scored on last October in the Lions’ upset of the then No. 2 Buckeyes, a play Haley is thrilled to have on his resume, but one that’s also resulted in him getting the occasional greeting around town that starts with ‘Oh, you’re the Ohio State kid.’
"It was a special moment for me and for Penn State," Haley said. "I want to be remembered for more than that. Not just as a football player, but also as a student and for the type of person I am."
Haley, who Franklin jokingly said probably has only said about 32 words during his collegiate career, is also the person who the head coach called Mr. Dependable. Cornerbacks coach Terry Smith echoed those sentiments, adding that Haley is the unquestioned leader in the cornerback’s room.
And then there’s Cabinda, the most vocal of the three – unless one counts the usual Allen laugh that can be heard across any room before he flips the switch and steps on the field. Cabinda is the glue for this unit, calling out the defense and making sure Brent Pry’s guys are reading their keys and making their fits. It was a natural role for the sharp and charismatic Cabinda to slide into.
“From the moment he stepped on campus, he's always been a leader,” Cothran, the defensive tackle, said. “In the locker room, even when he was a young guy, guys looked up to him. He brought an energy and intensity. That's something you want out of your leader on defense and your middle linebacker. ... Our defense has shot up ever since he's been on the team.”
It’s a trio that should hear all their names called this spring during the NFL Draft with Allen, a projected second-round pick, likely the first of the three off the board. But the most meaningful stretch of college football is still ahead of them, and if anyone thinks for a second that the bubbly Allen, who is in line to make his 41st career start on Saturday, won’t enjoy this ride, think again.
“When you combine all three of us, that’s what makes the perfect leadership because you have all three elements of how to lead,” Allen said. “Us three link up pretty good.”