State of the Hogs: Protecting Austin Allen may get tougher

Arkansas quarterback Austin Allen passes to tight end Austin Cantrell during the first quarter of an NCAA football game against Alcorn State, Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016, in Little Rock, Ark. (AP Photo/Chris Brashers)

— There was a tight circle around Austin Allen around 2:45 p.m. Saturday, hardly room for the Arkansas quarterback to breathe. There was somewhere between eight and nine men moving fast toward him with their hands out.

At that point, the pressure was from the media, microphones extended, cameras rolling. It was the only time anyone in War Memorial Stadium was close to the junior passer with the dazzling stats. Alcorn State's defenders never hit Allen as the No. 20 Razorbacks rolled to a 52-10 victory.

Allen entered ahead of Kevin Scanlon's school record clip of 66.1 percent set n 1979, and improved it with a 13-of-18 day for 206 yards and three touchdowns against the Braves. He's not thrown an interception since the first game. He's completed 67.6 percent of his passes in a 4-1 start.

But the key Saturday, the Arkansas quarterback wasn't so much as touched on the field. The Braves blitzed, but everything was picked up in protection. It was in stark contrast to the first four games of the season, especially last week when Texas A&M knocked Allen to the ground 15 times.

Allen spent the week getting treatment three times a day to escape the soreness left from the hits applied by the Aggie pass rush.

“Hats off to the line, the tight ends and the running backs,” Allen said. “They practiced well, they played well. I can't say enough about everyone around me. I feel a lot better right now than I did this time last week.”

Allen said there was never a point during the week that playing against the Braves was a question.

“I did take a lot of treatment,” he said. “It was morning, afternoon and night. I was pretty sore early in the week. I was feeling pretty good by Thursday. I didn't miss any practice time and I felt good today.”

Of course, Alcorn State isn't Texas A&M. And, the Braves don't resemble what the Hogs will see next week. No. 1 Alabama visits the Ozarks. The Tide's pass rush has battered many SEC quarterbacks in the Nick Saban era.

“It's a big-time game,” Allen said. “We know what we are going to see. A Nick Saban team will be well coached. We have to step up to another level.”

The key was to pick up Alcorn State inside linebacker Darien Anderson, the team leader with seven sacks. He worked past the inexperienced Arkansas guards a couple of times, but a fullback or tailback picked him up each time.

That was the case early in the game when Allen found wide receiver Jared Cornelius for touchdown passes of 29 and 35 yards.

“He was wide open,” Allen said. “I could have punted the ball to him.”

There were other highlights, like the nine runs by freshman running back Dewah Whaley. He totaled 135 yards, 75 on a neat cutback to the left when the Braves were slanting hard the other way. It was about the same as every time Allen went back to pass.

“No one touched me,” Whaley said. “It was a zone play and I saw the cutback. There was nothing but green in front of me, great job by the line.”

Left tackle Dan Skipper and left guard Hjalte Froholdt left Whaley a hole about six yards wide. It was quickly a sprint for the end zone and no one closed on the Beaumont, Texas track man.

Arkansas coach Bret Bielema was excited to see Whaley's coming out party. There's a need for another big-play back to go with starter Rawleigh Williams, just as solid with 126 yards on 13 runs. TJ Hammonds, true freshman, made 29 on five carries in his first real action of the season.

“This week I wanted to see a transition,” Bielema said. “Rawleigh is our starter, but we wanted to give Dewah some more. He made some nice reads today.

“Everyone thinks we want to have a one-two punch, but when we've really had success I've had three. We've got Kody Walker still doing some good things, but we may have six.”

There were still some issues. Walker was stuffed on a fourth-and-1 at midfield in the first half. The defense gave up some big plays, again on the quarterback run. The Hogs are going to see running quarterbacks the next two weeks against Alabama and Ole Miss.

Alcorn State had big plays of 53, 46, 39 and 28 yards, but got only one touchdown, when quarterback Noah Johnson scampered in from the 12-yard line. The Braves did themselves in with three turnovers, one of them at the UA 1-yard line and another for a pick six. There was also another blocked field goal by Skipper.

The best news, there seemed to be no major injuries. Wide receiver Keon Hatcher did not make the trip after sustaining a hamstring injury late in the A&M game. Safety Santos Ramirez, bothered by a bruise, suited up, but never had his helmet on.

“Keon had an irritation,” Bielema said. “We didn't want him to sit on the bus for three hours coming down. We just left him at home to rehab.

“We brought Santos. He probably could have played, but we thought we could sit him.”

De'Andre Coley took the strong safety spot. He had been ejected in the first half of the A&M game for targeting.

Coley took some wrong angles and missed some tackles, but also was in on seven stops, tied for team high with Henre' Toliver and De'Jon Harris.

“Defensively, we got guys in and came out healthy,” said Bielema, who noted Toliver's 70-yard interception return for a touchdown to open the third quarter flipped the momentum and probably set the rout in motion.

Alcorn failed on an on-side kick to start the game, a play sniffed out by redshirt freshman La'Michael Pettway. That sparked a 24-0 first quarter for the Hogs. After going scoreless in a lackluster second, the Hogs scored twice in each of the final two quarters.

The Hogs had only one turnover, a fumble by backup quarterback Ty Storey with 2:43 to play. The Hogs also had to burn a timeout near the end when Storey went to the line of scrimmage short a fullback. Bielema said Storey will have to improve on those two plays.

In the end, it was mission accomplished. Bielema liked the offensive execution for the most part. He said a favorite phrase from offensive coordinator Dan Enos seemed appropriate.

“Dan calls it – and I had to make sure it was something PG rated – going PHP,” Bielema said. “It's pound Hogs pound, protect Hogs protect and pass Hogs pass.

“We know what we have with Austin Allen. He's tremendously talented.

“I know some of you thought Austin was mad at some of his teammates last week (for protection issues), but he was mad at a call. He does that. He treats our guys well. He competes. That's his DNA. When you have a guy like that, you have a chance every Saturday.”

Wide receiver Cody Hollister calls his quarterback “an awesome player,” then brought up the solid protection.

“I think our line took it personal what happened last week,” Hollister said. “We know what Austin can do. Everyone's seen it.

“He is great in practice. I think for him it's about competing just every time he goes out there, but we all know he's a gamer.

“You just see him be such a great leader in the huddle. He's calm. There is no panic when he's under pressure. I actually just love him.”

There was some love expressed at the hotel Friday night. Former UA star David Bazzel brought a young guest to the lobby. Bielema asked for team captains to spend some time with 6-year-old cancer patient Keagan Provost.

"He's had 56 surgeries," Bielema said. "I told our players that the game should be easy compared to what he's going through. I think every player came by to see him. I loved it when I saw big Dan (Skipper) dapping with Keagan.

"You know the fist, and then blow it up. I think every player on our team was dapping with Keagan. That's a different perspective when you see a young man like that."

The perspective changes this week against the defending national champs. The Hogs know Allen will face a different kind of pressure with the Tide blitzes, but Bielema said it's about enjoying the moment.

“It's going to be very fun,” Bielema said. “Playing (Alabama) has been special for a long time. But I told our players already, playing Alabama is the same, you play your 11 against their 11. We have to play a four-quarter game.

“I think it will be a great environment, with a live crowd. We need our fans every way possible.”

There was talk about Alabama coach Nick Saban.

“I love the competitions,” Bielema said. “I've known him since I was in the Big Ten, when he was at Michigan State. I have great respect for Nick. It is always a difficult task.”

The task will be protecting Austin Allen. If the Hogs can do that, they think they have a chance.