Allen stands in, delivers for UA

Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen looks for a receiver during a game against Alabama on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2014 at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Alabama relentlessly attacked Arkansas' offensive front and quarterback Brandon Allen with blitzes on obvious passing downs Saturday.

The protection held up more often than not, and Allen found receivers for first-down yardage or the junior quarterback scrambled away from the pressure.

Allen beat the blitz enough that Alabama dropped more defenders into coverage as the Crimson Tide escaped with a 14-13 victory at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

The third-and-long situations were dictated by Alabama clamping down on the Razorbacks' ground game, which last season might have spelled doom for Arkansas the entire game.

Not Saturday.

Allen completed seven passes for first downs that converted third-and-6 or longer and the Razorbacks were 9 of 19 overall on third down. That kind of passing could bode well for Arkansas against Georgia on Saturday in Little Rock and for the rest of the season as Allen and the offense evolves.

"I was pleased with how we performed on third down," Arkansas offensive coordinator Jim Chaney said. "Brandon made some plays, the tight ends showed up, everybody showed up a little bit from time to time on third down. I think that's one thing we did well in the ballgame was execute on third down."

Georgia Coach Mark Richt noted Arkansas' ability to strike through the air last week.

"They actually threw the ball quite a bit against Alabama," Richt said. "I think they probably threw the ball more in that game than any game. They protect well. Allen is an agile guy with a strong arm."

Because of Arkansas' dominant ground game, the standard practice for defenses has been to load the box and fill gaps against the run and to use a lot of man-to-man coverage against Arkansas' receivers.

Alabama did much the same, forcing the Razorbacks into passing situations and then bringing five and six defenders on blitzes for much of the game. The Tide got their share of pressure-package victories as well, forcing hurried passes, harassing Allen into a few unproductive scrambles and sacking him a season-high four times for 19 lost yards.

The Razorbacks had allowed only one sack in their previous five games.

Allen completed 21 of 40 passes for 246 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception, which came on the Razorbacks' final snap.

"They were able to get some pressure on us, but we, for the most part, did a good job of picking most of it up," Allen said. "Any time I have to move and they bring one more than we can block, it's my job to either get the ball out or make them miss and not take any sacks."

Offensive line coach Sam Pittman praised Allen's presence against the blitz.

"I think we threw it 40 times the other day, and I thought he handled the pressure really well," Pittman said.

The Razorbacks struggled later in the game when they had to pass on more downs and Alabama dropped more men into coverage. In particular, the wideouts struggled to get open and Allen had to go deep into his progressions with pressure mounting.

"What I'm trying to get my guys to understand is it's easy to go catch a ball when we run a play-action fake and you're running down there by yourself," receivers coach Michael Smith said. "What I want you to get better at is when everybody in the stadium knows what you're going to do and you've still got to go win. Right now, that's my responsibility to put those guys in a situation to get it done.

"I would never sit here and say we didn't have enough time to get open. If they give us one second to get open, we've got to get open in one second. If they give us 10 seconds to get open, we need to get open in 10 seconds."

Tight end AJ Derby said the receivers are continually working to improve on their ability to get open.

"We obviously play a lot of good defenses, a lot of athletic guys," Derby said. "And the SEC lets you grab a little of the jerseys that other conferences don't see."

Derby's 54-yard catch-and-run touchdown came on a third-and-7 play early in the third, and Arkansas' first series of the second half featured conversions on third downs needing 9, 10 and 10 yards on Allen passes covering 11 and 26 yards to Keon Hatcher and 11 yards to Demetrius Wilson.

"A player has to take it upon himself to go out there and make a play on third down," Hatcher said. "That relies on us, so we've got to get better at that."

Sports on 10/15/2014