FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said Wednesday that quarterback Brandon Allen is on track to start Friday's regular-season finale at Missouri.
"I think if Brandon continues to move in the direction that he's already started, there's not going to be any problem or hesitation," Bielema said on the weekly SEC teleconference.
Allen suffered a right hip injury after taking a shot on the back of his hip from an Ole Miss player in the second quarter of the Razorbacks' 30-0 victory Saturday.
The junior from Fayetteville took it slow Monday but took some first-team reps Tuesday and was scheduled to do more work in Wednesday's light practice, Bielema said.
"That kid's been getting treatment non-stop since the injury happened," Bielema said. "As we all know, Brandon's a very tough customer and he threw the ball fairly well [Tuesday]. We didn't really want to try to re-aggravate anything, just wanted to let him heal up and get to where he needs to be."
Austin Allen, who came on to complete 3 of 5 passes for 65 yards, handled the huddle and line-of-scrimmage calls well, Arkansas coaches said, and had only one significant error, a muffed exchange from center that resulted in a lost fumble.
Bielema said tight end AJ Derby (knee) would be a game-time decision.
Getting loud
Defensive coordinator Robb Smith is still a little sheepish about the visit by hotel security during his de facto job interview with Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema, but he's thankful for the events that preceded and came after the rowdy early morning incident in a Tampa hotel room about 11 months ago.
Smith became animated during his conversation with Bielema, speaking loudly about one of his greatest passions -- tackling technique -- around 3 a.m. in a hotel room in Tampa, where he had just spent a season on Greg Schiano's Tampa Bay Buccaneers staff.
That prompted a visit from hotel security, who said there had been a complaint and asked Smith and Bielema to quiet down.
"I guess I can get a little bit loud late at night," Smith said. "I don't know how it all unfolded, but we got a knock on the door."
Smith said he doesn't regret getting boisterous in front of Bielema, whom he has known since his days as a graduate assistant at Iowa in 1999.
"I know if we didn't have that night, I certainly wouldn't be standing here in front of you right now," Smith said Sunday. "So very fortunate for the opportunity that we have, with my family being here. We love it here. I'm glad that night occurred."
Turkey swap
Arkansas became the odd team out when LSU and Texas A&M agreed to push the SEC office to pair them up for the regular-season finale around the Thanksgiving weekend.
Fortunately for Arkansas, the move came after Missouri joined the conference along with the Aggies, giving the Razorbacks a season-ending game against a border rival. Every other SEC West team meets an intra-division opponent this weekend for what the league is calling rivalry weekend.
Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and South Carolina are all playing in-state rivals, leaving the Tennessee-Vanderbilt game as the only pairing of SEC East teams on the final weekend.
Arkansas and Missouri are the only annual cross-division opponents matched up on the regular season's final weekend.
Sports on 11/27/2014