Marcus Allen enjoys homecoming at Penn State victory

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — When Marcus Allen looked into the stands and saw his sister, he knew it would be a special day.

It was the first game in Allen's four years at Penn State that his sister was able to attend. In the past, her situation, which Allen said included working often, didn't allow her to go to games. With his friends and family members shouting "Marcus" as well as his nickname "Chico" from the stands, the Upper Marlboro, Md., native said it felt like a home game.

"Just for me to show up for them makes me feel good," said Allen, adding it was a "perfect win."

The senior safety made four total tackles in the 66-3 victory against Maryland.

The rest of Penn State's defense also had an impressive outing. The Nittany Lions (10-2, 7-2 Big Ten) limited Maryland to just one field goal, which came in the third quarter, on the Terrapins' (4-8, 2-7) home turf.

"We were relentless," Allen said. "We just imposed our will, played fast. Everyone ran to the ball. Guys were just playing with a lot of passion out there."

A set of brothers took the Nittany Lions' commonly used "run to the ball" saying seriously. Josh McPhearson forced a Terrapins fumble, and his brother, Zech, recovered it.

In addition to the McPhearson brothers, sophomore linebacker Cam Brown named Allen and Jason Cabinda, who recorded four tackles, as key defensive players in the blowout.

"I feel like we matched up well," Brown said of Maryland's offense and the Nits' defense. "They have a lot of athletes on their team, and they have a lot of speed, and we've been working on our speed, so we matched up well and I think it showed on the field. We played some fundamentally sound football."

Brown may think Penn State and Maryland matched up well, but Allen said the teams will never be rivals. The Maryland Native was just focused on ending his last regular season game in blue and white on a good note.

"We just had to make a good statement win," Allen said. "I think you saw it out on the field. Whatever you see on that field, you saw that passion on the field, you saw the scoreboard, that's what we wanted to show."

The Nittany Lions finished their season 10-2 and can now focus on preparing for a bowl game, which will be announced on Dec. 3. As far as the regular season, the Nittany Lions are satisfied they could end it with a blowout on the road.

"I wanted to go out with a bang, and we definitely did," Allen said. "It was a great team win, man."