UK Football linebacker and fellow “Blitz Bro” Josh Allen continued to prove himself on Saturday with another standout game, this time against non-SEC contender Eastern Michigan.

Allen isn’t the only elite athlete of his family. His sister, Myisha-Hines Allen, plays basketball at the University of Louisville while another sister, LaTorri Hines-Allen, played basketball at Virginia Tech. His uncle, Gregory Hines, played college basketball at Hampton and had a 12 year professional career.

Allen came to the University of Kentucky as a three-star recruit that was not highly recruited. He chose UK over only two other schools, Monmouth and Buffalo.

The now UK linebacker and a Montclair High School graduate wasn’t recruited by the school local to his high school, which was Rutgers University. This caused other major schools to not show interest in him during the offseason.

In his high school career as a defensive end, he had 75 total tackles with 21 tackles for loss, and 22.5 sacks. Being the standout athlete that he was, and still is, Allen led the state of New Jersey in quarterback sacks in his senior year of high school. He also played in the wide receiver spot, and had 23 receptions for 500 yards and five touchdowns his senior season.  

In his first season as a Wildcat, Allen played in all 12 games as a reserve linebacker and contributor on special teams. His sophomore season is when he became a key player for UK, playing in all 13 games and starting in nine of them, his first career start coming from the game against Florida.

He ended the 2016 season as UK’s seventh leading tackler with 62, and also led the Wildcats and tied 12th in the SEC in sacks with seven.

2017 is also showing to be a great season for Allen. With 5.5 sacks under his belt, Allen is well on his way to accomplishing his season’s goals.

“You know, I am I guess, but I can always do better. I missed that one (tackle) in the end zone, but I told them I’d make it up to them,” Allen said after Saturday’s game.

Video: Josh Allen post-game interview

Allen is one of the best linebackers in the SEC and ranks high nationally in sacks per game. He’s had a sack in five straight games, including Saturday’s game against EMU.

“We played good defense, but we can always get better,” Allen said of UK’s 24-20 win over EMU.

The junior had seven total tackles against EMU in Saturday’s game, his second highest of the season. Allen also had two sacks for a loss of 11 yards.

Expect Allen to continue shining for UK’s defense. The Cats are back in action in the Bluegrass Oct. 7 against the University of Missouri.