FAYETTEVILLE — It was time for the flow to go.
That was the verdict when Austin Allen woke up Sunday morning.
“It was all over the place, so (I) needed it off,” Allen said.
So the Arkansas’ senior quarterback trimmed the lengthy locks he’s sported in 2017 in favor of a shorter, more-styled look.
“I needed something new in my life and that’s what I did,” Allen said.
It may take some getting used to — tight end Cheyenne O’Grady initially mistook him for backup quarterback Ty Storey — but his teammates and coaches approve of the new hairdo.
“I thought he was a completely different person because I was just so used to the locks waving around in the wind, so I didn’t really even recognize him,” O’Grady said. “I like it, though. It looks good. Good looking guy.”
“As a good coach and supporter would, I told him he looks very nice, I liked his haircut,” offensive coordinator Dan Enos said.
Allen said the haircut wasn’t in response to his slow start to the season, but he hopes the new style isn’t the only change that takes place during the bye week. A preseason third-team All-SEC selection, Allen opened the year by throwing for 135 and 138 yards, the two lowest passing totals of his 15-game career.
The early struggles aren’t all on him, to be sure. He’s had to adjust to a receiving corps full of new faces. The only veteran, senior Jared Cornelius, hasn’t been able to practice fully until this week because of a lingering back issue. The inexperience has led to miscommunications and the young receivers have also struggled to get open at times.
“I’m looking for things to get open instead of throwing it open, where last year I was just letting it rip,” Allen said. “… There’s the trust factor where I’ve got to trust them to get open.”
Even factoring in the receiver inexperience, Allen hasn’t performed like the same player who threw for 3,430 yards to lead the SEC in passing last season.
Against TCU, he missed on a number of deep balls, including one would-be touchdown to Deon Stewart in the second half, uncharacteristic inaccuracy from a player who’s shown the ability to drop the ball into tight spaces under duress.
“We were all kind of looking at that,” O’Grady said. “Austin’s kind of been off his game and we’ve noticed it, but yesterday and today he’s getting back to what we all know he can do.”
Allen and offensive coordinator Dan Enos reviewed tape from last year and the offseason to go over the differences in his follow through that crept up during the TCU game. After the first miss on a deep ball against the Horned Frogs, a first-half overthrow, Allen began pressing.
“I don’t think I’d been throwing the deep ball any better than I had in fall camp where I was just letting it rip,” Allen said. “Going into the game, I overthrew the first one and got into my head where I can’t overthrow this one, so I tried to place the next few and (they) fell short.”
The technique should be easily correctable. Getting back to playing without overthinking is the larger challenge, even if it’s a tough task given the inexperience of the players he’s throwing to.
"We've got to get him to play instinctive, play faster,” Enos said.
“I’m just putting too much pressure on myself where I want to be perfect on every play,” Allen said. “No one’s perfect. No one’s going to grade out at 100. I’m not going to hit the big play every single time. I’ve got to let things come to me, get the ball out of my hands. Instead of trying to be perfect on every throw, just throw the ball.”
Allen mentioned letting it rip multiple times during his media availability Thursday. He knows he has to be better even if the blame for the early season struggles doesn’t rest solely on his shoulders.
Of course, neither does his hair, anymore. The current style is more in line with the look he had last season when he established himself as one of the top quarterbacks in the SEC.
Now, the challenge is trying to recapture that form on the field.