FAYETTEVILLE — Keon Hatcher was Brandon Allen's sidekick for three seasons. It would have been four last year, but Hatcher was knocked out after two weeks with a broken foot.
The story went if you saw the quarterback (Allen), you saw the wide receiver (Hatcher). They were together in throwing sessions, sometimes just the two of them. They were in the tape room, side by side. Hatcher knew Allen was his bread and butter, and vice versa.
But with a medical redshirt last year, that puts Hatcher with the next Allen, younger brother Austin. That's just fine with the fifth-year senior from Owasso, Okla. He's more than happy to be Austin's side kick now. They begin that journey at 3 p.m. Saturday when the season opens against Louisiana Tech.
While everyone talks up Drew Morgan, Dominique Reed and Jared Cornelius, Hatcher might be waiting in the wings ready to pick up where he left off after two straight 100-yard games to open last season. Maybe no one sees it coming, but wide receivers coach Michael Smith knows it's a mistake.
“I hope people have forgotten about Keon,” Smith said after practice Wednesday. “If they have, it's a mistake.”
Hatcher knows he might be the forgotten men in the Arkansas passing game. He knows those others deserve the praise from the way they finished last season. He doesn't want to replace them, just join them. And he thinks Austin Allen will do just fine getting them the ball, as Brandon did last season.
“He's ready,” Hatcher said of Austin. “He's excited to play with us. We know we have to make plays for him and we are going to do just that. Receivers have to make plays for the quarterback.”
What about Hatcher's role? Has he tagged along with Austin the way he did with Brandon?
“I really did do that to end the summer,” Hatcher said. “You do that with your quarterback. You want to have that chemistry. You want to have that rhythm and timing.
“I wanted to know exactly how he's going to deliver the ball, what he sees. I wanted to feel the same things he feels. It's important.”
There wasn't a lot of issues with getting that done. Austin had been with them in most of their tape study and most of their throwing sessions.
“You had Brandon out there, Austin was going to be right there,” Hatcher said. “So it was really already where we wanted to be.
“We did spend some late nights throwing at the end of the summer. We got out there and worked together.”
The expectations are mixed for Austin Allen's first start at Arkansas. Some think there will be some slippage from what Brandon Allen did to end last season. Some think he's better. Hatcher smirked a little.
“I think he's going to blow people's mind,” Hatcher said. “Those that think he's going to give them something special are right. He's going to give it to them.
“It's tough to compare the two quarterbacks, although I know people do. They really are alike, but different. They throw a different ball. What I like to say is that both spin it tight. But Brandon's had a little more zip. Austin has a little more touch."
Hatcher said both quarterbacks are easy to catch. Where they differ is in their deep passes.
"Brandon threw it more on a line," Hatcher said. "Austin drops it in the pocket, straight down. It comes right where you want it.
“Really, the touch on Brandon's deep ball is good, but Austin's is really outstanding. You look up and here it comes, just so soft and right where a receiver wants it to be.”
It's all Keon Hatcher could want, one Allen to replace the one he loved for four years. He's loving the new Allen, ready to burst back on the scene that was ended with a cruel break.
“It's been awhile, hasn't it?” Hatcher said. “I am sure some did forget about me. I have not been in the front of any minds for a long time. But if they forgot about me, I got something for them Saturday.”