advanced to the national finals. BSU lost to Jim Tressel's Youngstown State Penguins at Huntington, West Virginia, and finished the season at Allen maintained his reputation for publicity stunts at Boise State. During the run to the 1994 national championship game, he challenged local supporters and promised to ride a horse in downtown Boise if Bronco Stadium was sold out for their annual rivalry game versus Idaho, who had won twelve straight games over the Broncos. The stadium was sold out, BSU won and Allen kept his promise. Cancer and legacy Bothered by shoulder pain for about a month, Allen had outpatient surgery in Boise for a biopsy three days prior to the 1994 championship game, and was diagnosed two days after the game with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of muscle cancer. The tumor in his upper right arm was removed in March and he underwent extensive chemotherapy and a stem-cell transplant in July at the Fred Hutchinson Center in Seattle. He returned to coach the Broncos in 1995 while going through treatment, and the cancer was declared in remission in December 1995, but the doctors warned of likely recurrence. After finding a lump on his chest the following summer, cancer was found in both lungs and Allen took a medical leave of absence on August 6; several days later he underwent extensive surgery at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle. Defensive coordinator Tom Mason filled in as interim head coach in 1996, the Broncos' first in the Big West Conference and Division I-A, and they stumbled to just one win in their first ten games. Allen returned for the final two games of the season, against New Mexico State and Idaho. His win at NMSU was his only Division I-A win, but a week later the Broncos were routed 64–19 by rival Idaho in Boise. Three weeks later, after additional tests revealed more tumors in his lungs, he resigned as head coach on December 11. While visiting family in Montana over the holidays, Allen fell and his condition worsened; he died at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula at the age of 53. His memorial service was on New Year's Day at St. Anthony Catholic Church in Missoula. Allen was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1998. Head coaching record Personal life Allen was born to Ernest Duncan Allen Sr. and Esther Allen. Allen Sr.