The four-year college odyssey of Wisconsin kicker Mike Allen has been quite the roller coaster ride.

There have been ups and downs, highs and lows, and plenty of moments in between. The 2004 season has been a microcosm of Allen’s career, as the senior from Prescott, Wis., has enjoyed his moments in the spotlight and endured his share of turbulent times.

“That’s pretty much how it is. It sucks. I was on a hot streak and everyone was loving it. Now I’m getting shunned from class,” Allen joked. “You go through hot streaks and then you go through cold streaks — they suck. Obviously no one wants to be in that situation.”

Currently, Allen finds himself in the midst of a frustrating two-for-six stretch that dates back to a 57-yard miss against Purdue Oct. 16. That misfire snapped a string of six consecutive made field goals that began with a game-winning 23-yarder in Arizona Sept. 18.

“I just barely missed it,” Allen said of the miss in West Lafayette. “From then, it’s just piling up and the misses have been piling up. It’s horrible, I hate it. It’s the worst feeling in the world.”

After wrapping up his prep career at Prescott High School, Allen spurned a scholarship offer at North Dakota State to join Wisconsin as a walk-on. Far from being a highly-touted recruit, his goals were modest. All Allen sought was a roster spot. Now a senior, he has earned both the starting place-kicker position and a scholarship, something he is extremely proud of.

“I was just hoping to make the team and get on scholarship,” Allen said. “Things have worked out pretty well. Getting a scholarship, to me, that’s my biggest accomplishment: getting on the team, walking on as a kid who didn’t have hardly anything coming out of high school.”

As a freshman, Allen handled place kicking duties in four games, converting six of his nine field goal attempts. In 2002, he split time with junior college transfer Scott Campbell, but hit 12 of 19 field goals and all 30 of his extra points. Slowed by a hip injury in the 2003 season, Allen connected on nine of his 12 tries. This year, the oft-maligned kicker is Wisconsin’s second leading scorer with 55 points.

Despite his struggles, Allen has no regrets about his collegiate career.

“Obviously as a kicker, I went through my ups and downs, but in the long run it was the most enjoyable thing I’ve done in my entire life,” Allen said. “It’s been an experience that educationally and athletically I’ll never forget. I turned into a man when I was here. I was able to realize how important school is to me and how important athletics are to me.”

While the 2004 season is anything but over for Allen and the Badgers, one chapter of his career recently drew to a close when he walked off the field at Camp Randall Stadium for the final time. Despite a pair of missed field goals, Allen left with a smile and more importantly, a 38-14 win over Minnesota.

“It was pretty emotional,” Allen said of his final home game. “I’m not a real emotional guy. I don’t show much emotion if I make a big field goal or if I miss a big field goal. That’s just not how I am. I’m not a big celebrator or anything like that. A lot of guys cry and do that stuff, and that’s perfectly cool, but for me it’s just put a smile on my face and go out there for the fifth quarter with all my other teammates with the 12th man, the fans.”

That victory was even sweeter for the laid-back Allen because it came at the expense of the Golden Gophers. Born in Minnesota, he grew up watching and cheering for the Gophers.

“You can’t ask for a better way to go out in your last game at home,” Allen said. “It was nice.”

Needless to say, it was a nice way for a former walk-on to end his home career, a career that five years ago he thought might never happen.

“I didn’t even want to play football in college,” Allen said. “I only did it because it was something presented to me as a challenge. Either it was my high school coach or someone. I think who it really was was my inner person talking to me, saying, ‘Mike, there’s a challenge out there for you. Let’s see if you can do it.’ I accomplished it, I got to play four years, got a scholarship.”

Graduating in May with a degree in business and aspirations of graduate school, Allen is now preparing to leave the gridiron behind in favor of the financial world.

“I’m not really banking on the NFL thing, as I’m sure everyone else on campus would vouch for, too,” Allen said with a laugh. “Now I think my inner person is telling me, ‘There are other challenges out there in the real world, let’s see what you can do.’ I have no doubt and there’s no question in my mind I’m going to succeed in those endeavors. We’ll just see what life brings to me.”