Kansas State football linebacker Nick Allen filling in nicely for injured Daniel Green

MANHATTAN — Nick Allen had a message for injured teammate Daniel Green last week leading up to Kansas State's key Big 12 matchup with Oklahoma State.

Basically, Allen assured Green that he had his back.

"I told him I would have loved if he would have played, but I also said you've got to play it smart," said Allen, who stepped in at middle linebacker when Green got hurt two weeks ago at TCU and then started in his place against the Cowboys. "I'd rather you sit this one out and play the rest of the season, rather than try to play now and get hurt again.

"He trusted me, and I trusted him."

It doesn't hurt that Allen, a 6-foot, 200-pound senior from Overland Park, has been productive in Green's absence. When Green went down early in the TCU game — a 38-28 K-State loss — Allen came on to lead the Wildcats and tie a career-high with 10 tackles.

Allen again paced K-State with eight stops and a quarterback hurry in a historic 48-0 blowout victory over Oklahoma State as the Wildcats (6-2 overall) took sole possession of second place in the Big 12 at 4-1. They face another test at 6 p.m. Saturday, when they host Texas (5-3, 3-2) at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

"Nick was big today," K-State coach Chris Klieman said following the Oklahoma State game. "Deuce (Green) didn't practice most of the week and he tried, and Adrian (Martinez, starting quarterback) tried. They just couldn't go.

"We're fortunate we've got Will (Howard) behind Adrian and Nick Allen I think is a terrific football player. We took him off special teams, but he played excellent at inside linebacker. He got one of our hammer awards today, just because I think he's such a warrior."

Allen, a former all-state standout at Blue Valley Southwest High School, arrived at K-State along with Green in 2018 and they both redshirted. Green immediately stepped into the rotation as a top reserve when Klieman took over as head coach in 2019, while Allen became a special teams mainstay.

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Green, a preseason all-Big 12 pick, is in his second year as a starter, but Allen has seen more and more action as a reserve over that time, even starting against Southern Illinois last year when Green was suspended during the first half for targeting in the previous game.

Allen, a former walk-on, didn't learn that he was starting against Oklahoma State until roughly 20 minutes before kickoff, when Green determined that he couldn't go.

"But I had been anticipating it and I tried talking to Deuce and asking him how he was feeling and all that," Allen said. "I just try to do my best (and) put my best out there. I try not to let the situation get too big."

The Wildcats also have faith that Allen is up to the task.

"We kind of knew that (Green) wasn't going to play, so throughout practice we just talked a lot," said starting weakside linebacker Austin Moore, who leads the Wildcats in tackles with 55. "We talked about how we've all got to step up because (Green) is a great player, obviously, and they stepped up to the challenge.

"Nick Allen is a beast. He played big."

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With 18 tackles in the past two games, Allen has moved into eighth place on the team with 26, just one behind Green. For Moore, another former walk-on, Allen is a bit of a kindred spirit.

"He's one of my best friends on the team, and one of my best friends in general," Moore said. "Over COVID (in 2020), since he lives close to Louisburg, we were running on Louisburg's practice field, even though we didn't know if we were going to have a season or not.

"We worked out in my basement together. Him and I put in a lot of work together, and I'm super proud of him."

The same goes for Klieman.

"He just personifies what K-State football is," Klieman said of Allen. "He walked on here. It hasn't always gone great. He's been beat up a lot.

"He earned a scholarship from us and has played really good football for us, and he's always there."

So when Allen's role changed dramatically in the TCU game, Klieman again was not surprised.

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"I didn't learn anything about Nick Allen, because I think Nick Allen's a starting linebacker, a really good linebacker," Klieman said. "He just gets opportunities, and he just makes plays."

Klieman said Tuesday that Green is progressing, but that it remains to be seen if he will be ready to play against Texas. Regardless, Allen is ready.

"I've been following Deuce, I've been backing Deuce up for the majority of my career," Allen said. "He's taught me a lot, and I just feel really confident when I go out there.

"So there's not a whole lot of pressure on me."

Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Nick Allen a capable backup at linebacker for Kansas State football