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LeQuint Allen Jr. craves adversity. He manically laughed just thinking about it postgame on Saturday. When all the chips are on the table, Syracuse’s running back is at his best. He’s an unstoppable force, and an immovable object. He proved it back on Oct. 4 — when he bulldozed a few UNLV defenders en route to a game-winning touchdown run in overtime.

So, when the Orange were in the same spot about a month later, there was hardly a thought behind who they’d turn to.

“In overtime, that’s LeQuint time,” head coach Fran Brown said. “Just get LeQuint the ball.”

Allen Jr. delivered the final blow yet again for Syracuse (6-2, 3-2 ACC), this time with a nine-yard touchdown run in overtime to ultimately defeat Virginia Tech (5-4, 3-2 ACC). SU overcame an 18-point deficit to beat the Hokies 38-31 and Allen Jr. was the largest part of that. The junior exploded for 121 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries — all season-highs — while hauling in five catches for 37 yards, too.

Brown repeatedly referred to Allen Jr. as his team’s best player after the game. While fueled by adversity, praise like that is what keeps him motivated.

“It just makes me want to go harder for my teammates and coach Brown and the whole staff,” Allen Jr. said of Brown’s confidence in him. “That just comes with (my) work ethic, just keeping that same grit and just (to) keep going no matter what.”

Change was a necessity for Syracuse once it fell behind 14-3 at halftime, then 21-3 halfway into the third quarter. Nothing clicked up until then. It was unbalanced. Its vertical passing game, typically SU’s staple, was nonexistent. Quarterback Kyle McCord had under 100 passing yards through two quarters for just the second time in his college career.

Two brutal turnovers, a McCord interception and a Darrell Gill Jr. fumble significantly hindered SU as well. Allen Jr.’s eight carries for 53 yards was a small plus, though.

Brown consulted with offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon during halftime. He wasn’t too thrilled with the scheme. Shades of the previous week’s disaster to Pitt were prevalent. Postgame, Brown likened his interaction with Nixon to when his wife snaps at him. Brown obeys when that happens. Nixon did the same on Saturday.

“We had to at least get back to the basics, get back to who we are and, honestly, give the best football player the ball,” Brown said.

Enter Allen Jr. McCord has received most of the offensive attention in 2024, throwing for more than 300 yards in each of SU’s first seven games. And that’s left Allen Jr. sidelined, to a degree. He hadn’t rushed for more than 100 yards in a game this season. He only had one multi-touchdown game. He’d only tallied 20-plus carries once. But Saturday was all his.

Allen Jr. first found the end zone at the 2:53 mark of the third quarter. Syracuse was at VT’s one-yard line down 21-10. After a first-and-goal play call was a direct snap to tight end Dan Villari, Nixon went with something much simpler on second down. In the I-formation, McCord handed the ball off to Allen Jr. The running back jumped up and nearly somersaulted in midair before landing in a hoard of Hokies’ defenders, punching in the touchdown.

A two-point conversion made it 21-18 Hokies advantage. More volume to Allen Jr. in the running game opened up the field, as Syracuse could take advantage of press coverage from Virginia Tech. That’s what led to Justus Ross-Simmons breaking free for two lengthy catch-and-run touchdown receptions as SU held a 24-21 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Though after the Hokies took back the lead courtesy of a Malachi Thomas 15-yard rushing score and a John Love field goal, Syracuse leaned on Allen Jr. He touched the ball on six snaps of the Orange’s 14-play, 75-yard game-tying touchdown drive near the end of regulation.

“We ran the ball extremely well tonight. I think we started to wear them down,” McCord said.

The drive was capped off by Allen Jr. flying over SU’s offensive line again for a one-yard rushing touchdown with 29 seconds left in the fourth. As Allen Jr. collided with VT defensive linemen, his momentum continued upward, showing off his brute strength before crashing back to the turf in the end zone.

Allen Jr. said he simply wants it more than whoever lines up across from him. Just like in Las Vegas, Allen Jr. came down with what seemed to be a severe leg injury, yet managed to play through it and excel. He gave his injury an eight out of 10 on the pain scale, but displayed his best football of the year — scoring four touchdowns with over 100 scrimmage yards.

On Saturday, Allen Jr. wasn’t experiencing any visible pain. He was just inflicting it.

Overtime began with Allen Jr. receiving a handoff on a tricky alignment from Syracuse, with three offensive linemen positioned near the snap and five players in a bunch set to the left. Allen Jr. had plenty of space to rumble and he slashed through the middle of Virginia Tech’s defense for a 16-yard gain.

On the next play, Allen Jr. ran through the B gap behind right guard Mark Petry and immediately found a hole past the line of scrimmage. He didn’t flinch, stutter or wait to read the defense. He bolted forward.

Allen Jr. stumbled at the four-yard line once Hokies’ cornerback Dorian Strong lunged downward and briefly grabbed his right foot. His momentum still carried forward, though. Allen Jr. began to dive at the end zone, then made contact and spun off of cornerback Dante Lovett, twisting across the goal line for six points.

The touchdown served as the game-winner for Syracuse after Marlowe Wax forced a fumble from VT quarterback Collin Schlee on the ensuing drive.

“I wouldn’t be able to score without the blocks,” Allen Jr. humbly said.

Even after his father’s death in February 2023, Allen Jr.’s fun-loving, energetic personality is as strong as ever. He still giggles like a child — though, that often comes after he sends an opponent home with a loss. The scars both on and off the field have only made Allen Jr. stronger. And he’s fully embraced it.

“When adversity hits, you just gotta rise to the occasion,” Allen Jr. said, as a smile slowly crept onto his face. “And not too many people want to do that, but I do. I want all the adversity.”

Published on November 2, 2024 at 8:22 pm

Contact Cooper at: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews