Sunday will signal a bit of a homecoming for Carolina Panthers second-year quarterback Kyle Allen.
With starting quarterback Cam Newton likely out nursing a foot injury, Allen would be making his second career start at Arizona.
Allen went to high school in Scottsdale, Arizona, which is a suburb of Phoenix, in the same way, Huntersville is to Charlotte. While in high school, he was rated as the No. 1 prep quarterback in the nation.
After high school, Allen went to college and played at Texas A&M for two years, where he was a teammate of Cardinals rookie quarterback Kyler Murray. Allen then transferred to Houston for his final two years of college.
While Allen has never played in State Farm Stadium, he was there as a fan in 2011, when a Newton led his Auburn Tigers to a BCS Championship victory over the Oregon Ducks.
"Don't tell Cam, but I was rooting for Oregon that game," Allen said with a laugh.
In 2018, Allen decided to forgo his final year of eligibility at Houston and went undrafted before getting picked up the Panthers in April.
Last September, Allen was waived, then signed to the practice squad, then released, then re-signed and then promoted to the active roster in December, to make his first career start in the last week of the season at New Orleans. Allen got the call after Newton went down with a shoulder injury and backup Taylor Heinicke got injured the previous week.
After winning the No. 2 quarterback job during this year’s training camp, Allen's career could have a dramatic impact from where it all began in high school.
But it was in College Station, Texas, where he and Murray crossed paths.
As a freshman in 2014, Allen backed up Kenny Hill at Texas A&M, before taking over as the starter in Week 9.
As a sophomore, Allen led the Aggies to a 5-0 start with then-freshman Murray splitting some time as a dual-threat quarterback.
Allen transferred to Houston to play under head coach Tom Herman, while Murray transferred to Oklahoma, where he’d win the Heisman Trophy and become the top overall selection in this year’s draft.
But after getting to Houston, Herman left one year later. As a result, Allen only played three games for Houston under the new regime.
"That was the first real football adversity I faced," Allen said. "I think I needed to feel some adversity to make myself better."
Fast forward two years to today and Allen will likely square off against his old teammate Murray.
"Obviously the decisions worked out in different ways," Allen said. "I've got a lot of respect for him, at the end of the day. I think he's a really good quarterback, he's doing well for that offense and he's doing well for that city."
Allen and Murray weren't close friends in college. However, the narrative that there was a dislike between the two isn't true.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had bad blood with a quarterback in any room, ever,” Allen said. “That’s always a storyline that likes to get portrayed. The more you sit in the quarterback room and be around quarterbacks, the respect is there. That was always there between us.”
Seeing Murray will be fun, but Allen is pumped to likely be playing in his hometown.
“Going back home is exciting. I always had this one circled,” Allen said. “I've got all this family and friends from Arizona that are going to come to the game and have this moment."
Even Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury, who was coaching at Texas Tech back then, recruited Allen out of high school.
“He was the No. 1 prospect in the country, so he probably threw all our letters away and red buttoned me every time I called him, but I remember watching him,” Kingsbury said. “I’ve always had a very high regard of him as a player.”
There will be plenty of memories and catching up to do for Allen when the Panthers arrive in Arizona. But he’s looking to prove he belongs in the NFL, so the trip will be all business.
“You guys all know my college experience. You have those ups, you have those downs, and you learn a lot about yourself,” Allen said. “Through that crap I went through in college and even getting released last year (before coming back), you build that resolve. That’s something I hold onto really tight.”