QB Zach Allen discusses his decision to join Rutgers

Rutgers now has a dual-threat quarterback with college experience under his belt as Zach Allen announced Wednesday that he will be coming to Rutgers as a graduate transfer from TCU. Allen graduated in three years at TCU, which means he has two more years of college eligibility.

Allen, a native of Temple, Tex., will immediately compete for the starting quarterback position at Rutgers, which was left very unsettled after spring practice. Allen took some time out to speak with Scarlet Nation about his decision to join the Scarlet Knights.

“I think the selling point for me was this new offense and Coach Mehringer running it, along with Coach Ash as the head coach kind of overseeing everything. It is just a great foundation. With the new offense, I think big things are going to come for Rutgers. I really want to be a part of it and be able to compete for a starting job and eventually a Big Ten championship.

“I am excited for the opportunity. I took my visits and Rutgers just seemed like a great place to go.

Allen was the No.18-ranked dual-threat quarterback in Rivals.com’s national recruiting class of 2013 and came into TCU as a highly-touted prospect.

But during his initial season at TCU, one of the nation’s top quarterbacks, Trevone Boykin, began to emerge right before his eyes.

“It was kind of a unique situation,” Allen explained. “When I came into TCU, Trevone was playing receiver and running back and I was planning on sitting for one year and having the chance to compete for the starting job for four years. My redshirt [freshman] year, Casey Pachall broke his wrist and they played Trevone. And the Trevone story happened after that. I love the kid and he had an extremely successful career. It was awesome playing behind him and learning from him. He is a great guy.”

After two years of watching the offense from the sidelines, Allen was moved to wide receiver.

However, injury really prevented him from accomplishing much in that role.

“I tried to move to receiver because Trevone was getting the job done and I did not really see the field as his backup,” Allen said. “I ended up getting a sports hernia surgery right before the [2015] season so I was out for most of the season physically. I still held the ball [on field goals], but I could not do much other than that. Now, I am back to 100% and ready to run. I can do everything I used to be able to do.”

This past fall, Allen was already eying up the possibility of graduating early and transferring into another program where he could compete for a starting quarterback job.

“When I knew there was an opportunity for me to graduate, I ended up taking 23 [credit] hours this past semester in order to do this,” Allen said. “It was a tough semester but I got it done and I think it will be worth it in the long run. There was a lot of studying and a lot more frequency of tests than there would be in a normal semester. I got it done and now I have this wonderful opportunity to play at a school that has a chance to be on the rise and compete with these new coaches.”

Credit is also due to the Rutgers coaching staff for its efforts in bringing Allen to Piscataway.

“It feels pretty good to be wanted and take these official visits. I just had a great time on my visit to Rutgers. The coaches did an excellent job recruiting me and getting me to go to Rutgers. I am looking forward to it.”

Allen will start the long drive from Texas to New Jersey today and will settle in on the Rutgers campus this weekend.

Be on the lookout for another feature article on Allen later today.