Owen Allen didn’t give much thought to the service academies as a recruit.

He was a tailback and, with 7,700 rushing yards at Southlake Carroll (Texas), owned the second-most rushing yards in Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex history.

But for whatever reason, that historic prep career landed him only three offers: Air Force, Army and Navy.

“I kind of took that as somewhat of a sign,” Allen, who ranks second on the Falcons with 372 rushing yards this season, said with a laugh. “I ultimately picked what I thought was the best one and I have been happy with my decision.

All three academies wanted him to play fullback. Army wanted him to go through its prep school. Air Force welcomed him as a direct-enter cadet.

“The love that I felt from the coaches (at Air Force) was undeniable and unmatched from the other schools I was getting recruited from,” Allen said. “This is my home, this is my family, and there hasn’t been a day when I thought maybe I should have picked one of the other ones.”

So that’s how the Falcons (2-5) landed the 5-foot-11, 215-pound Allen. Then it was a matter of what to do with him at fullback, also known as “Superback” at Air Force. It’s a position that has evolved to fit its personnel, using the quickness of players like Jacobi Owens and Timothy Jackson in different ways than rumblers like Shayne Davern, D.J. Johnson and Cole Fagan. Then there was Brad Roberts, who could do a little bit of both and led the nation in rushing from the position in 2022.

Head coach Troy Calhoun also coaches the fullbacks at Air Force, so he’s had Allen in his room from the day he arrived. Calhoun has had a front-row seat to Allen’s strength and has given much thought on how best to use them.

“Here, you try to bring in as good a football player as you possibly can and then you morph or you adapt or you work accordingly to what those capabilities are,” Calhoun said. “It’s one of the joys of coaching.”

Allen heads into Saturday’s game against Army (3-4) – his recruiting process runner-up – coming off a two-game stretch where he ran for 297 yards on 27 carries against UNLV and Wyoming. He is averaging 7.2 yards per carry this season.

“It’s been a dream come true,” Allen said. “The past three years being up here and all the work and time you put in to see something like that come to fruition, it was just a dream come true. To be ready when my name got called and obviously the last two weeks has been proof of that.”

Aside from starting each play in a three-point stance, the spot he’s playing isn’t all that different from the lone-back position he played in a spread offense at Southlake Carroll. He’s running up the middle but also using his speed on the perimeter.

“Especially looking at my history as a runner, lot of stuff running between the tackles, but a lot of stuff bouncing outside, too,” he said. “It’s been really cool. It’s been an honor to see that trust that the coaches have in me be able to get the ball on some of those options and pitch plays designed for the fullback. Kind of knocking down some of those misconceptions of a fullback as a big, lumbering guy. We’ve got some juice in our room and we can go when we need to.”

Last year Allen saw action in only one play against Army, a kickoff return. His role expanded after that as he ran for 221 yards over the final four games of the season – all victories.

This year he began the season splitting time with senior Dylan Carson and the Falcons, in part because they were frequently playing from behind and in part to utilize the talents of new quarterback Liam Szarka, didn’t run as frequently as they had in recent years. Allen went to UNLV with just 25 carries and 75 yards through the season’s first six games.

Two games later he’s realistically talking about the potential of a 1,000-yard season – “that would be incredible” – and suddenly looks like a key piece of the offense the Falcons will return in 2026 after many veterans (Carson, slot receiver Cade Harris, tailback Kade Frew and tight end Bruin Fleishmann) will have graduated.

The final seven games, dating back to the trip to UNLV, could be an extended preview of how Allen and Szarka, a sophomore, will function together.

“With us both returning, that’s something I’m looking forward to and he’s looking forward to, especially getting the fullback more involved in the run game and hopefully that takes some pressure off of him,” Allen said. “You have that kind of dual threat in the backfield, to make those big plays and capitalize on what you’re given.”

All this from a player who never envisioned an academy in his future, but has now fully embraced it.

“It means a little more,” Allen said of playing Army on Saturday, adding “these are the kind of games you live for.”