CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Austin Allen’s first season as a starting quarterback — after a redshirt year and two seasons of sparse game action — started with a bang and ended with a series of up-and-down performances.
Allen endured one significant injury, a knee sprain on a low shot from behind by Auburn's Carl Lawson, but he didn't miss a game, likely thanks to a bye week that followed the Razorbacks' loss at Auburn.
The junior will take a 7-5 record as a starter into Thursday's Belk Bowl game against No. 22 Virginia Tech at Bank of America Stadium. The 6-1, 209-pounder began his career as a starter with seven consecutive games of two or more touchdown passes.
In the past five games since the streak was snapped at Auburn, Allen has thrown half of his 12 interceptions against only five touchdown passes.
Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema has said on numerous occasions that the starting quarterback gets too much credit for victories and too much blame for losses, but he pointed out how the Razorbacks' fortunes ebbed and flowed with Allen's performances this season.
"I go back to that Auburn game, and that was a moment he h
ad to live through and persevere," Bielema said. "It wasn't good. But the good news is he came out of the back side fighting.
"I do think he was probably a little -- he got rolled up pretty hard from behind on that one. That was a bad, bad play. You can say whatever you want, it takes a long time for a kid to get that out of his memory."
Bielema said he thought Allen eventually worked past the psychological part of standing in against the pass rush after the Auburn game, a trait that offensive coordinator Dan Enos praised earlier in the year.
"He's got to learn, and I think this is a major point going forward, he is this football team," Bielema said. "He's the one guy you can point to that when he plays well, we play well. When he doesn't, we don't. With that burden comes a certain price tag. We've got to do everything we can to help him, put people around him. But I think he's learned to be a little bit more boisterous."
Allen rated his play as "up and down," but that he played hard all year.
"There's always room for improvement," he said. "I'm never going to be satisfied with where I'm at. I'm going to try to play well this last game and then go into the offseason and try to get better. That's pretty much all I can really do."
Allen ranks ranks second in the SEC with 3,152 passing yards, and he's tied for second with 23 touchdown passes. But he's also tied for first with 12 interceptions.
Enos said the time away from games has helped Allen immensely.
"He's healthy, he's looked sharp, his arm looks fresh and live," Enos said. "His feet are good. Obviously with this defense we're going against there's going to be some good plays and there's going to be some plays he's got to throw it away or do whatever because they're very well coached and they're very athletic.
"But he's had good prep. Again, he's a young quarterback in my opinion, having only started one year. All this practice time is going to benefit him, not only for this game but in the future."
Sports on 12/28/2016