FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas offensive coordinator Dan Enos said he appreciates Austin Allen's toughness, but he'd prefer the team's starting quarterback be more careful by not absorbing big hits.
"Quarterbacks are an interesting group," said Enos, who played the position at Michigan State. "It's like they always have a chip on their shoulder. Like they have something to prove to everybody on the team because they get a lot of ribbing at practice that they don't get hit.
"I think everybody knows Austin Allen is tough. But for some reason, a lot of the good quarterbacks I've been around and coached, there's this edge to them like, 'I know you're telling me that Coach, but I'm going to show everybody I can go do this.' Until maybe something happens on a negative side and they miss some time. Then they realize, 'Maybe I shouldn't be doing this.' "
Allen scored the game-winning touchdown Sept. 10, in Arkansas' 41-38, double overtime victory at TCU on a tackle-breaking, 5-yard run. Against Texas State last Saturday, he had an 8-yard gain on a bootleg run to the Bobcats' 1.
"I always tease him, 'I don't know how anybody falls for these fakes you have,' but some people have," Enos said. "I don't get it. He has a knack of making people miss ... but he's also got to be smart and understand he's got to get on the ground or get out of bounds when it's necessary."
Enos said when he played at Michigan State, he also felt he the need to show his toughness.
"It's silly," he said, adding that his quarterback coach, Morris Watts, had to tell him the same things about running smart.
"Everybody thinks you're tough. Nothing to prove, but still you go out there and ... until I got concussed pretty good against Florida State when I was a sophomore," Enos said. "I think I started a lot more sliding after that moment."
Ragnow honored
Arkansas junior lineman Frank Ragnow was selected Monday as the SEC offensive lineman of the week. Ragnow played right guard for the first time this season in Arkansas' 42-3 victory over Texas State last Saturday.
Ragnow graded at 92 percent in the game to give Arkansas the SEC offensive lineman award for the second consecutive week. Dan Skipper picked up the honor after the Hogs' 42-38 double-overtime victory against TCU on Sept. 10.
Tube talk
Arkansas' game against Alcorn State at Little Rock on Oct. 1, will kick off at 11 a.m. and will be shown on the SEC Network Alternate channel. The Razorbacks' final nonconference game of the season will be the team's only game at War Memorial Stadium this season.
Injury report
Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said receiver Jared Cornelius should be fully engaged in practice today after sitting out last Saturday's game to rest his sore back.
"He was itching to get back on it. I knew he wanted to play Saturday, but we had made the decision to keep him out of it," Bielema said.
Bielema added that he'd have to see how Cornelius progressed during the week before determining if he would resume as the main punt returner or if Drew Morgan would take the spot again this week.
Get the 'Led' in
Arkansas defensive coordinator Robb Smith touted tackle Jeremiah Ledbetter's defensive smarts Monday.
"His recognition of plays has been really positive," Smith said. "He really recognized the screen play [against Texas State], which was a big help for us on some certain things. I'm just really impressed with his football IQ, his maturity."
The Drew show
Arkansas receiver Drew Morgan and running back Damon Mitchell have gone through pregame warm-ups bare-chested in the past. Mitchell did it Saturday and Morgan has gone without a shirt on multiple occasions.
Asked at his weekly press conference Monday if he had ever seen a player do that, Bret Bielema replied, "Drew has done several things that I've never seen before. I'm sure this won't be the last."
After saying he was unaware Morgan had done it, Bielema added, "Drew's doing a good job, but the more Drew can concentrate on what Drew needs to do better, he'll be a better player. I think there's a little bit of showmanship going on we've got to get cleaned up."
Team MVPs
Arkansas coaches selected Jeremiah Ledbetter as the defensive player of the week for the game against Texas State. Ledbetter had 4 tackles, 1 1/2 sacks and 3 pass breakups. Bret Bielema also cited Brooks Ellis and Jared Collins for playing well.
Dan Skipper and Jeremy Sprinkle split player of the week honors on offense, with Bielema also pointing out good play from Rawleigh Williams, Austin Allen and Frank Ragnow.
The coaches selected Reid Miller as special teams player of the week.
Arm patches
The coaching staffs at Arkansas and Texas A&M will wear arm patches in honor of the AFCA's Coach to Cure MD program. It is the ninth year for coaches across the country to raise funds and awareness of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The program has raised more than $1.2 million in eight years.
Whaley work
Freshman running back Devwah Whaley got his first extended action against Texas State and ran 11 times for 50 yards.
"I know he was beating himself up a couple times because he thought he should've scored," starting tailback Rawleigh Williams said. "But for him to come out and get that experience, I think helped him a lot mentally."
Offensive coordinator Dan Enos said running backs coach Reggie Mitchell felt good about Whaley's pass protection and left him in on pass plays.
"He's done a nice job. He's gotten better," Enos said. "I think he's right where we need him to be going into week four."
Punt or pass
Arkansas' longest play this season was Austin Allen's 73-yard pass to Keon Hatcher against Texas State.
"Keon's a heck of a football player and he got really wide open," Allen said. "I could have punted it to him and he probably would have caught it."
Shutouts
Texas A&M has two shutouts in its past five games, a 67-0 wipeout of Prairie View A&M on Sept. 10, and a 25-0 victory over Vanderbilt in Week 11 last season. Prior to those, the Aggies had gone more than 10 seasons, 147 games, without posting a shutout.
Arkansas has gone 18 games since back-to-back shutouts against No. 17 LSU (17-0) and No. 8 Ole Miss (30-0) in 2014. The Hogs have held two opponents -- Missouri last season and Texas State last week -- to three points in that span.
Sports on 09/20/2016