‘He can destroy an offense.’ UK’s Allen reminds Louisville coach of No. 1 NFL pick he coached.

Louisville’s coach knows a little something about game changers.

He has coached quite a few, including the first pick the 2014 NFL Draft in Jadaveon Clowney.

Lorenzo Ward saw how opponents game-planned against the defensive end when he was his position coach at South Carolina. Along those lines, Ward knows it will be imperative for the Louisville offense to constantly be aware of where Kentucky’s Josh Allen is on Saturday.

“Josh Allen is the key to that defense,” Ward said of the Cats’ senior outside linebacker, who set two new quarterback sacks records last week versus Middle Tennessee while piling up a career-best 15 tackles. “He can destroy an offense, he himself. He’s a great football player.”

Clowney, the first overall pick by the Houston Texans, made 129 career tackles, 47 tackles for a loss and 24 sacks in his three seasons at South Carolina.

During his most productive season in 2012, Clowney had 54 tackles, 23.5 tackles for a loss, 13 sacks three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

This season for UK, Allen has 80 tackles, 17.5 for a loss, 13 sacks, five forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

“I was blessed to coach Jadeveon Clowney and you had to know where he was on offense or he would destroy your game plan, so you’ve definitely got to know where Josh Allen is,” Ward said.

The thing that impresses both the Louisville interim coach and fellow former defensive coordinator Mark Stoops the most about Allen is his versatility.

“He doesn’t just rush all the time,” UK’s head coach said of Allen, who also has four pass breakups. “He drops (back) half the time. He covers so well and is so versatile. He’s an amazing player.”

At 6-foot-5, 260 pounds, Allen is as good against the run as he is the pass, Ward said.

“He’s a complete player,” the Cards coach continued. “I think this young man will definitely be a potential high draft pick, and he’s showing it. He plays hard, he doesn’t seem to take a play off. He’s got a motor that runs 100 miles per hour all the time. He’s a talented young man.”

And Allen could be a big problem for Louisville (2-9) on Saturday at Cardinal Stadium in the annual rivalry game.

Louisville has allowed 41 sacks this season, second most in the country and has allowed 85 tackles for a loss, among the 10 worst in the nation.

For added perspective, the Cardinals’ entire defense has just 10 quarterback sacks this season to Allen’s 13 so far.

Unlike last season when his productivity dropped significantly in the final five games of Kentucky’s season, Allen seems to be getting better each game.

The two sacks against Middle Tennessee moved him into first place in career sacks at Kentucky with 27, and he also broke UK’s single-season sacks record with 13.

Allen is one tackle for a loss away from setting a new single-season record at Kentucky in that stat. He’s just two sacks from being in the top 10 in Southeastern Conference history, too.

He’s getting notice from more than just the Louisville coach.

The Cats senior is a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Award for the defensive Player of the Year. He’s a Chuck Bednarik Award finalist for the top defensive player of the year and a Butkus Award finalist as the top linebacker.

And after Allen has gone on to the NFL the way Clowney did, he will still be making an impact at Kentucky (8-3). Stoops noted that future potential defensive stars like linebackers Chris Oats and DeAndre Square are going to benefit from seeing how hard Allen works in every practice and every game.

“He’s relentless on every play,” Stoops said of Allen. “It’s just how he is. … He doesn’t know any better than to play full speed every time, whether it’s in practice or in games.”

Saturday

This story was originally published November 20, 2018 at 3:12 PM.