ISU's Vincent Allen bypassed in College Hall vote, hopeful for 2027

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Three-hundred and 28 colleges have at least one player or coach who's been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Indiana State isn't yet among them. But ISU has come closer than ever in the past two years.

Former Sycamore great Vincent Allen was nominated for induction last year and this year — the first player in ISU history to appear on the ballot.

Alas, Allen was bypassed both times. On Wednesday, the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame announced its Class of 2026, featuring 18 players and four coaches. Allen wasn't on this list, which did include future Indianapolis Colts legend Marvin Harrison of Syracuse and No. 1 NFL draft pick KiJana Carter of Penn State.

The ballot included 79 nominees from the Football Bowl Subdivision (or major-college) ranks and 100 from the smaller-program divisional levels. More than 12,000 NFF members, including current Hall of Famers, voted for the Class of 2026.

Only one selected inductee — former Oklahoma Sooners linebacker George Camby — played in Allen's era, the 1970s. Aside from one other inductee from the 1950s, the rest of those chosen played or coached from the 1980s into the 2010s.

Allen, who starred as a running back at ISU from 1973-77, remains eligible for selection with the Class of 2027. Nominated players must have played their last year of intercollegiate football within the last 50 years.

"The next [2027] cycle would be his last year through the regular process. Should he not get into the 2027 class, he will then drop to the Veterans Committee which examines players from 50-plus years ago," Hillary Jeffries, director of special projects for the NFF and College Hall, said Wednesday afternoon.

The 70-year-old Richmond retiree accepted the outcome gracefully.

"If I am chosen to be a College Football Hall of Famer, that would be a tremendous honor and very exciting," Allen said Wednesday by phone. "But if I don't, I have no complaints, because I had such a great opportunity to play football for Indiana State to the best of my ability."

Allen's validity as a nominee is statistically clear.

He finished his Sycamore career in 1977 as one of only four NCAA Division I rushers at that time with four 1,000-yard seasons, a list that included Pitt legend Tony Dorsett.

Allen was also a consensus Little All-American first-team pick in 1975, a second-team All American in 1974 (behind only Jackson State star Walter Payton), and an All-America honorable mention choice in 1973. Allen sat out an entire season with a knee injury, then returned to top 1,000 yards again as a senior in '77.

His still holds ISU records with 4,335 career rushing yards, 832 carries, 26 100-yard games (including 14 in a row) and 33 touchdowns.

Allen later played preseason games for the Chicago Bears as a free agent running back alongside Payton and fullback Matt Suey, among others, before getting released. Still, his pro career continued in the Canadian Football League, where his teammates included future NFL greats Terry Metcalf and Warren Moon.

Last September, Allen's alma mater retired his No. 26 jersey in a ceremony at Memorial Stadium prior to the 2025 Sycamore team's game against Eastern Illinois.

Many former teammates, coaches and former university staffers who celebrated that moment have also written recommendations to the NFF on Allen's behalf. "That was a tremendous honor for that to happen," Allen said Wednesday.

One of the strongest advocates for Allen's College Football Hall of Fame induction is his former Sycamore coach Tom Harp. Prior to last September's jersey retirement event, Harp endorsed Allen as a College Hall of Famer.

"I feel like he deserves it," Harp said then. "If you take into account all he achieved, the 1,000-yard seasons, what he meant to the football team, he should be in."

Allen will return to his alma mater for the events surrounding the ISU Athletics Hall of Fame on Jan. 24 when its Class of 2026 inductees will be honored. Allen was inducted into the ISU Hall in 1998 and this year's inductees include former Sycamore assistant coach Bobby Turner and sports information director Ed McKee, both good friends of Allen's.

Whether he'll eventually be joining the Irving, Texas-based College Football Hall isn't certain, but Allen is content with his accomplishments.

"Especially being the guy at 5-foot-7, 180 pounds, who people back in the day said, 'He's too small to do this,'" Allen said.

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