Allen aims for improvement before he gets hyped playing home-state Bulldogs

Davis Allen hauls in a pass against Georgia Tech last season. (Photo courtesy ACC)

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed Mar 31 13:01:03 GMT-04:00 2021

Davis Allen isn’t ready to get caught up in the early hype of Clemson taking on Georgia, even though he grew up a little over a hundred miles from the Georgia campus. After all, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney makes sure his team knows that their biggest opponent each week looks back at them in the mirror.

The Tigers and Bulldogs open the season on September 4th in Charlotte in what should be a matchup of top-5 teams. Allen, who grew up in Calhoun, Georgia, says the folks back home are already excited about the game.

“From the town I come from, a lot of people are Georgia fans,” Allen told the media Monday. “A lot of people back home, they’re talking about the game already.”

Allen was asked about his excitement level for the game, and he shrugged it off.

“I mean, it’s exciting, yeah,” Allen said. “But kind of like what Coach Swinney says, every game, we’re playing Clemson, and that’s just kind of my mindset towards it. It will be fun, for sure, and I won’t take it for granted. But at the same time, it’s just another game. That’s how I need to approach it. But yeah, it should be fun.”

The game will be the first for Tony Elliott as the tight ends coach (in addition to offensive coordinator) – Elliott moved from the running backs to tight ends before the spring when Danny Pearman was moved into a scouting role. Allen said he has already learned a lot from Elliott, who broke out an old practice from back in the day as a teaching tool.

"He brings a different set of knowledge in the passing game that has been really useful for me in particular, because that's one part of my game I need to work on,” Allen said. “Starting with technique and improving the basic things when it comes to route-running. (Elliott) has pulled out old practice footage from back in the day when Coach Swinney was the receivers coach here in early 2000s of different releases, and if we're pressed or if it's a zone coverage what we need to be expecting. He likes to say he's adding tools to our tool belt right now and that's what we're doing, just learning the basics and new techniques."

Allen then said the tight ends are on a mission to be better than ever in 2021 – he has played in 27 career games but has just 21 career receptions.

"Speaking for myself, I'm trying to improve in every aspect,” Allen said. “My footwork in the pass game, my hands. I'm trying to get better at every single thing you can think of. I think Braden (Galloway) is doing the same. This spring, we've really taken time to hone in on the basics that will make us better. I think Braden and I have taken it to a new level, and so has Jaelyn Lay (and) Sage Ennis.

"We are close as brothers off the field and I think that helps us on the field as well. We're improving in every aspect. Every tight end."

Allen said each of the tight ends was disappointed in the way they played in the loss to Ohio State.

“We got whipped. We weren't proud of that. We looked at what we needed to correct and were honest with ourselves,” Allen said. “Actually, in our team meeting today, we were talking about humility. And winners are humble. We got humbled. We got exposed. We are going to put our work boots back on and go get better at those things and also every other aspect that tight ends have to do."