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PLAYSTATION FIESTA BOWL: PENN STATE VS WASHINGTON

December 27, 2017

Marcus Allen

Glendale, Arizona

MARCUS ALLEN: I will say the experience is like it's a great experience as far as like with the family part as far as your brothers, interacting with your brothers every day, the relationships you have with the coaches and everything. But the grind is something real, going from like meetings to practice, to study hall and then trying to get in some practice film, watch over your opponent and everything.

It's a lot that goes into this. I guess a lot of people outside looking in don't get to experience it. So it's easy to like judge or like critique the player, but you don't know how much work and how much grind that we've really put into this. And this is basically our life. We don't have that much free time or down time. So outside looking in, just take that into consideration.

Q. You had great individual moments at Ohio State. You had great team moments over the last couple of years. Yet that statement win at the end of the year, how important is it for you to go out in your last game with a win?
MARCUS ALLEN: It's very important. These are my boys, my brothers. Want to go out one last time with a win, end it with a bang. I'm never going to be able to play with these guys, like this group of players again and these coaches.

We went through a lot, my past experiences with Penn State, going from not competing in a bowl game to being in the Fiesta Bowl. That right there that's a blessing. And I wouldn't trade it in for anything.

Q. Can you talk about your time here in Arizona and just your impression of the state, the scenery and the culture and food?
MARCUS ALLEN: The scenery is great. That's what I was saying last time. It's something I've never seen before. Experiencing this and like being able to see like the desert and like the cactus and like the mountains while we're practicing is something different, is something very, very like exciting to see. I like it a lot.

Q. Some of your teammates are saying that the cactus look like Looney Tunes?
MARCUS ALLEN: It looks different. When I see a cactus, it doesn't look real but it is. That's something that's interesting to me.

Q. Can you talk about dinner last night, the kind of food you had and what that was like for you?
MARCUS ALLEN: The bacon, the chicken-wrapped bacon, yeah, that was great, that was really, really good. They had a lot of -- they had steak coming in. They just have a lot of meats that you could choose from: Pork. The food, the thing that was different as far as the place that we went to yesterday was like they had like a card. One side of it was green, the other side was red. So like whenever you were like done, like I'm full, you flip it to the red side, like stop, I'm good from this. But I had it on green for a while, and I held strong.

Q. Did In-N-Out live up to the hype?
MARCUS ALLEN: Yeah, it did, it definitely did. It was a great place to eat.

Q. Talk about the weather. You're not out there in a winter coat, not freezing, don't see your breath during practice?
MARCUS ALLEN: Yes, definitely a different experience as far as the month and how hot it is. But for some reason at night it gets a little cold, gets a little chilly out here. So it's like it reminds us of Penn State.

Q. Can you talk about Washington's running backs, the challenges; is there something specific that stood out looking at them?
MARCUS ALLEN: They're explosive and dynamic players. I would say Myles Gaskin is an explosive running back. And he has a unique jump cut that I took note on. So, like, he's a really good player and I respect his game.

Q. What's your favorite play from Saquon, watching from the sideline or watching --
MARCUS ALLEN: In game or practice?

Q. One of each. Is he better in practice or in games?
MARCUS ALLEN: Like when he had chances to like practice like run the ball and, like, when he was live and stuff, he made crazy plays.

I'll say my favorite play as far as Saquon in game was the Rose Bowl last year. Rose Bowl last year, and the Iowa jump, when he hurdled the player and stayed on his feet.

Q. Is that how you remember him, or what other ways do you --
MARCUS ALLEN: It's a lot of memories that we have together. Like, we shared a lot of those with each other. We hang out a lot.

It's a different relationship that I have with Sa outside of what you guys have with him. You know what I'm saying? I'll remember him as far as being Saquon, the Saquon I know, Saquon that be dancing. Saquon could dance, too, if you all don't know.

The same way I'm doing it, he's probably better. I ain't going to lie. He's good at it. He never try to show it. But I'll remember that. I'll remember the Saquon as always joking. He's funny. So it's a lot of memories we have together.

Q. Talk about your trips (inaudible)?
MARCUS ALLEN: That was awesome. That was a great experience. Being able to see some of the NFL guys up close. That was a great experience. I got so see Shazier in person and Antonio Brown, guys that are dynamic players.

Q. Get a chance to talk to any of them?
MARCUS ALLEN: No.

Q. Coach Pry just said, I'm not sure if he realized it, but you played three-quarters of your snaps last season at linebacker. And that was a credit to how versatile you are. Do you view yourself as that way, as somebody up there grinding it out?
MARCUS ALLEN: You see me down there in that box most of the time, too. I see myself -- I can play linebacker. I can play safety if needed. Whatever Coach want me to do, I'll do it without hesitation. So I can do it whatever he wants me to.

Q. If they were recruiting you now, they would be recruiting you as a linebacker, because they've got to change the way they're bringing kids in. Would you have picked Penn State if they were viewing you as a linebacker, or were you DB all the way?
MARCUS ALLEN: I would've picked Penn State if I was a center...

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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