In an era where the transfer portal is a massive part of college football, it's hard to find stories that are surprising at this point, but quarterback Beau Allen has had quite the journey in college football.
Allen, a four-star recruit in 2020 and a Lexington, Kentucky native, started his college career with the Kentucky Wildcats.
Welcome (back) home, Beau Allen!
The Lexington native is transferring back to Kentuckyhttps://t.co/hz7fcqoVgF pic.twitter.com/PiqWuVzILX
— KSR (@KSRonX) December 12, 2023
He spent 2020 and 2021 there, but during that time, he attempted just 19 passes, completing 11 of them for 132 yards, no touchdowns, and no interceptions.
As a result of that lack of playing time due to now-Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis coming to town, Allen left the program for the FCS program, Tarleton State.
In 2022, Allen completed 56.8% of his passes for 2,841 yards, 23 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions.
After that performance, Allen returned to the portal and landed with Georgia Southern. However, he was immediately denied a waiver to play as a second-time transfer. As a result, he didn't see the field for Georgia Southern.
Now, Allen is back in Kentucky, where he began his career.
To recap:
- Allen redshirted in 2020 as a true freshman.
- Saw little playing time in 2021 with Kentucky.
- Transferred to Tarleton State for 2022.
- For 2023, he planned to play for Georgia Southern but was ruled ineligible.
- Went back into the transfer portal and is back with Kentucky.
Believe it or not, after all of that, Allen still has two years of eligibility remaining.
Now, he joins a quarterback depth chart adding former Georgia Bulldogs signal-caller Brock Vandagriff. Their 2023 starter, Devin Leary, was a senior transfer and could be headed to the NFL.
It looks like Allen will have his chance to compete for a job once again where he began his college football career—the Kentucky Wildcats.
Allen enters the 2024 season with 204 completions, 359 pass attempts, a 56.8% completion rate, 2,973 passing yards, 23 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions across 423 college football dropbacks.
