From: jag@unislc.uucp (John Ganske)
Subject: Vikings-Packers game - Terry Allen
Organization: Unisys Corporation SLC
Distribution: us
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 17:12:59 GMT


The following is from the Saint Paul Pioneer Press for Sunday, September 7,
1992.  It is from an article, by Bob Sansevere, titled "Allen shows mettle and
great quickness".

     It was looking as if this was a game nobody wanted to win.  For a while
  there, especially late in the fourth quarter and in overtime, that wasn't
  football the Vikings and Packers were playing.  It was a game of hot potato.

     "You take it," the Vikings said, "No, you take it," replied the Pack.
  This went on for quite some time, the Vikings and the Packers exchanging
  the ball either by turning it over or handing it over on downs.

     This was a game, it certainly seemed, destined to end in a tie.  
  Somebody needed a big play.  Nobody was making one.

     Packers quarterback Don Majikowski, proficient earlier in the game,
  when he completed 13 consecutive passes, closed out the day with four
  incompletions, an interception and a fumble he managed to recover.  Vikings
  quaterback Rich Gannon, meantime, struggled to complete anthing that 
  wasn't a screen pass.

     It became apparent this game was not going to be won with the passing
  game, which is kind of ironic considering both head coaches, Minnesota's   
  Dennis Green and Green Bay's Mike Holmgren, studied under The Genuis at
  San Francisco.

     You had to have your doubts about somebody winning with the running
  game, too.  The Pack's main back, Vince Workman, a beast early on, was
  getting few chances late in the game and few yards when he did get the ball.

     As for the Vikings' Terry Allen.  There were a few nanoseconds when it 
  looked like Allen was going to win the gamein the first few minutes of
  overtime.  He took off running to the right, and it looked like maybe, just
  maybe, he'd keep going.  Then, almost out of nowhere, Lewis Billups came
  from behind and slapped at the ball.

     FUMBLE!
      
     The Packers recovered.

     Fortunately for the Vikings, so did Allen.

     Allen didn't let the fumble gnaw at him.  Over on the sideline, players
  kept stopping by to tell him to keep your head up.  Don't let it get you
  down.  You'll do better next time.  They said all that stuff none of us
  really wants to hear after we've messed up.

     Allen knew it wasn't the end of the world, or the end of the game, not  
  the way the Pack was playing.

     "I wanted the ball again," Allen said.

     He got it.

     After one series in which the Vikings couldn't get past midfield and
  one series in which the Packers went backward, Allen, for all intents, won
  the game.  He didn't score a TD.  But it was his run, his nifty, shifty
  45-yard run, that set up the Fuad Reveiz's game-winning field goal and
  finally ended the game 23-20 with 4:40 left in OT.

     Allen ran to the 11 before he was dragged down.  It was a beaut of a run,
  his second beaut of a run of the game.  In the fourth quarter, he ran 51
  yards to set up Gannon's second TD pass to Hassan Jones.  In all, Allen 
  ran 12 time for 140 yards and caught five passes for 53 yards.

     The Vikings' preseason dominance, as anyone who saw the Packers' opening
  drive knows, was meaningless.  The Packers scored more points (seven) on the
  opening drive than the Vikings gave up the entire exhibition season (six).
  Some things weren't meaningless in the preseason, though.  For instance:
  Allen's 4.8-yard rushing average.

     He's for real.  He can do for the Vikings what Herschel Walker never
  did - help them win some games.

     "Give him a crack," Vikings guard Randall McDaniel said.
  "That sucker hits a crack and goes,"

     Said Allen's backup, Roger Craig: "He has that breakaway ability.  He's
  really quick and explosive.  He definitely can be a premier back."

     Can be?  Craig corrected himself.  "He will be a premier back.
  He sees the field really well.  He reminds me of Tony Dorsett.
  He sees a crack and explodes.  The guy is really amazing.  He's a lot 
  better back than you saw today."

     To be much better than he was Sunday, he'd have to be Barry Sanders.
  "No, I'm not a game-breaker.  I'm just a player," Allen said.  "I try to
  be a consistent running back.  Get 4 or 5 yards a carry and move the chains.
  The big runs are going to come sooner or later,"

     Sunday, they came later.  And it's a good thing for the Vikings they did.

John Ganske      -------------------------
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Unisys Corp.                            jag@unislc.slc.unisys.com 
Roseville, Minnesota                  jag@unirsvl.rsvl.unisys.com
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