4:02 p.m.: Pierre Allen has considered himself a leader since the second game of his sophomore year, the moment Barry Turner went down with a season-ending injury.

To Allen, being a starter carries a certain level of responsibility. Teammates look up to you.

So this season -- without example-setters like Ndamukong Suh, Phillip Dillard, Matt O'Hanlon, Larry Asante and Turner -- eyes will be on Allen. He doesn't mind it, though.

“It's very similar,” he said. “I've just stepped into a bigger role.”

Allen's now the veteran up front. He's played in 38 games, starting 25 of those. And he knows that he'll be called on often to set the tone, whether it's in the weight room, on the practice field or during games.

We'll have more on how Allen is embracing his increased role in Friday's edition of the World-Herald.

Allen finished his junior season with five sacks, 51 total tackles and 12 stops behind the line of scrimmage, hardly a statistical improvement from his sophomore campaign (five sacks, 51 total tackles and 10 tackles for loss).

Of course, Allen was incredibly unselfish in 2009, allowing Ndamukong Suh and Jared Crick to make most of the plays. Plus, Allen was never quite injury-free.

He's healthy now, though. And Crick says Allen's poised for a big year.

“The sky's the limit for him,” Crick said. “He can do whatever he wants to do. He can be as good as he wants to be. He's got to take the same approach that everybody's going to take, just take it day-by-day and try to improve every single day.”

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