FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas didn't spend much time focusing on its loss to No. 1 Alabama this week.
The Razorbacks (4-2, 0-2 SEC) spent between 15 and 20 minutes going over mistakes spotted on film during Sunday's practice. Then Arkansas quickly shifted its focus to this week's game against No. 12 Ole Miss (3-2, 1-1).
"I told the coaches, 'You're going to earn your keep today more than any other time during the year,'" Bielema said Thursday during his weekly radio show. "We had to make adjustments and figure out what happened and why it happened.
"Once the game is done, you have to flip the page fast. If you spend one day dwelling on yesterday, it's not going to be a productive tomorrow."
One of the concerns Sunday was how well would quarterback Austin Allen feel. Allen was sacked six times and hit 28 times by the Crimson Tide's physical defense.
"I woke up Sunday morning and felt fine," Allen said. "I didn't have any soreness or anything like that. I'm feeling pretty good."
Allen passed for a career-high 400 yards against Alabama. He also had three touchdowns, but was intercepted three times.
The redshirt junior leads the SEC in touchdown passes with 15. He is averaging 385.5 passing yards in SEC play.
"I think Austin will say that the transition from his redshirt freshman year to redshirt sophomore year, he really had a big jump," Bielema said. "He was very dedicated to his task, did an unbelievable job in the huddle, took a lot more pride in how he practiced and began to turn the corner.
"Then from this spring to this fall, his accuracy, his delivery, comprehension of the offense all improved. And if there is a tough guy award, he's got that award locked up."
Allen and running back Rawleigh Williams said they think the team has bounced back well from the loss to the Crimson Tide.
"They give us a 24-hour to period to celebrate the win or get over the loss," Allen said. "We got in there and watched the film. Some of it wasn't pretty, but we know we've got another opponent coming up. We can't let Alabama beat us twice. I feel like we'll be prepared."
"I'm excited to show the fans what we've worked on this week," Williams said.
One of Arkansas' focuses in practice this week has been to replace Dre Greenlaw at weakside linebacker. Greenlaw suffered a broken foot during the first quarter of the Alabama game and is expected to miss 4 to 6 weeks after undergoing surgery Monday.
Bielema indicated the recovery would likely be closer to the long end.
"We're going to be very fortunate to get him back for anything during the regular season," said Bielema, who noted linemen are typically able to return from foot injuries quicker.
Arkansas has worked junior Dwayne Eugene and freshman De'Jon Harris at weakside linebacker this week. It appears Eugene has the upper hand to start against Ole Miss. He recorded three tackles and an interception against Alabama.
"Dwayne Eugene is one of the most detail-oriented players in our program," Bielema said. "He is on all four of our special teams units. Every meeting he takes meticulous notes. He's played all three linebacker spots. The good thing is that when he got in Saturday, he played really well."
Bielema said Harris has shown good instincts in practice. He had four tackles and forced a fumble last week in his most extensive playing time against Alabama.
"He's very intelligent," Bielema said. "He doesn't have the experience all those other guys have, but if you put him in a football situation, he adapts easily."
Bielema said that while Arkansas failed to take a big step toward national relevance last weekend, it has an opportunity to do something similar against the Rebels.
"As you build your program and expect more success, when you have failure it hurts twice as bad," Bielema said. "Our guys are aware of what they had an opportunity to do. We had an opportunity to establish our identity further and we didn't do it, but it doesn't mean all is lost.
"We've lost two games to teams that could be two of the best in college football....I don't want to be where we're at - I want to be higher. But the reality is we've done some good things to get to where we are."