FAYETTEVILLE -- Quarterback Austin Allen was named Arkansas' most valuable player Friday at the Razorbacks' annual football banquet.
Allen passed for 3,152 yards and 23 touchdowns and completed 61.4 percent of his passes while leading the Razorbacks to a 7-5 record in his first season as the starter.
Sophomore tailback Rawleigh Williams III, who leads the SEC with 1,326 rushing yards entering the postseason, won the scholastic award.
More Hogs fans
Arkansas saw an increase in average home attendance for the third consecutive season, while the national average attendance fell for the sixth year in a row.
Arkansas drew an average of 69,581 for its seven home games, including a 52-10 victory over Alcorn State, which drew 46,988 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
The Razorbacks' on-campus attendance average at Reynolds Razorback Stadium was 73,347, including four sellouts.
Arkansas ranked 17th nationally and eighth in the SEC. Michigan had the highest average attendance, followed by Ohio State, Texas A&M, Alabama and LSU.
Arkansas averaged 70,281 per game at Razorback Stadium last year, and 67,326 for all home games.
The Razorbacks last saw a decline in attendance in 2013 when the team lost its final nine games.
According to CBSSports.com, the national average attendance reached its lowest point since 2000 this year. The average attendance nationwide was 43,106.
Bowl gifts
All Arkansas and Virginia Tech players will get a $450 Belk department store gift card and a Fossil watch for playing in this year's Belk Bowl. The NCAA caps the gifts a bowl can provide at a $550 value, but allows each school to provide an additional $400 in gifts.
Arkansas provides its players access to a gift suite, where items can be obtained based on a poinst value. Electronics, cooking utensils, camping gear, recliners, mattresses and bicycles have been among the items available in the suite.
"I got these sick Kobe tennis shoes and those are tough to find because I wear a size 17," Arkansas center Frank Ragnow said. "A couple of years ago I got a remote-controlled helicopter."
Bowl rings are also offered as part of the gift suite, but are never valued at more than $200 -- or half the gift suite. All players, including redshirts and walk-ons, are eligible to receive bowl gifts.
Last year the Razorbacks received gift cards and a shopping trip to Bass Pro Shop from the Liberty Bowl, as well as custom-made binoculars, a watch and a Nike gift pack that included shoes, sandals, sunglasses, a backpack and a commemorative game ball.
The Texas Bowl provided the team with an Adidas duffel bag, a belt buckle and a shopping spree to The Galleria.
Foster's take
Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster heaped praise on the Razorbacks' offense when talking to local reporters this week.
"Alabama gave up 15 touchdowns in 13 games, which is phenomenal," Foster said. "These guys scored four of them, so they played extremely well.
"They beat Florida. Ran up and down the field on Florida, which has a pretty good defense. Like I said, they're big, physical, athletic and we're going to have to play really, really well."
New Year moves
Bret Bielema believes the bulk of the movement among assistant coaches this offseason will take place after the first of the year, as the bowl season is wrapping up.
He made the remarks on Monday after the biggest head coaching moves of the offseason -- Ed Orgeron taking over the full-time duties at LSU, Tom Herman replacing Charlie Strong at Texas, Willie Taggart replacing Mark Helfrich at Oregon, Matt Rhule taking over at Baylor -- had taken place.
"The last week in particular, there's been a lot of activity, although this has been a pretty minute year as far as turnover," he said. "A small number of guys as compared to other years.
"I do think that, uncharacteristic to year's past, there will be a lot more movement after Jan. 1, to be quite honest, because there hasn't been a lot of head coaching turnover. I think there will be assistant turnover around the world of college football that will probably be a little higher than usual."
Sports on 12/19/2016