‘Only a dream’ becomes reality for Kentucky quarterback signee
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College football early signing period
The early signing period for college football recruits in 2019 is Dec. 18-20. Click here to read all the coverage from the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com.
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The photo touches the heart of what it means to be a Kentucky football fan — a Blue-to-the-bone Kentucky football fan.
A young boy strides across the grass, clad in an oversized “Power K” helmet and a No. 2 jersey like one famously worn by someone who would become a living Wildcats legend.
It could have been any kid in the commonwealth.
But this was Beau Allen.
The helmet with a small No. 12 on the back — authentically his father’s from dad’s days suiting up for Jerry Claiborne.
The jersey number — Tim Couch’s, of course — someone Allen would one day write his name beside in the state’s high school record books.
Allen’s mother, Ingrid, posted the old photograph on Twitter at 7:29 Wednesday morning — “What was only a dream 15 years ago. ... ” she wrote.
Moments later, she posted a video of her sleepy-eyed son supervising his father, Bill, as they sent in the faxed national letter of intent he just signed to play for UK.
“She was really excited,” Allen said of his mom, whose video had more than 12,100 views as of Wednesday afternoon. “It’s been crazy. It’s definitely not a normal day, but it’s been fun. It’s been fun for my family and myself and it’s definitely cool to officially be a part of it.”
Allen got up early to send in his commitment at the first opportunity. He would be the first announcement of an outstanding signing class put together by Kentucky football’s staff. Allen got an offer to play for Kentucky as a high school freshman. As his career blossomed at Lexington Catholic and he became one of the top QB prospects in the nation, anticipation only grew.
“I just wanted to send it in as soon as possible,” Allen said.
Allen will be getting his college career started as soon as possible, too, by enrolling for the spring semester.
While the photo of him as a young boy in UK gear seems to indicate Allen always had his heart set on the Cats, he insisted he weighed his options before committing in May. Ten schools total, including places like Michigan, Georgia and Washington State, made offers for the 6-foot-2, 203-pound three-star quarterback out of Lexington Catholic.
“I’ve definitely been a pretty big Kentucky fan all my life, but I definitely wanted to go through the (recruiting) process. I listened to other schools,” he said.
Allen comes to Kentucky both with the weight of history as a home-grown talent (think Couch, Jared Lorenzen, Bill Ransdell and others) and the pressure of trying to impress his coaches amid a slew of other contenders for the job.
“I don’t think of it or necessarily call it pressure,” Allen said. “I think, to me, it just kind of makes it a lot more fun and a lot more things to work toward.”
Joining Allen as a January enrollee will be Auburn transfer Joey Gatewood. Then there’s the possibility of the injured Terry Wilson coming back to reclaim his starting spot. Sawyer Smith could re-emerge as a contender, among others.
“I’ve heard a lot of people talk about (the competition), and if anything was going to change (my mind), but there’s competition everywhere,” Allen said. “And I’m just excited for it. I can’t wait to get over there. …
“I definitely won’t be holding back any. I will definitely go for it.”
This story was originally published December 18, 2019 at 6:18 PM.
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