LIKE IT IS

Flowers a budding force on Hogs defense

— Trey Flowers wasn’t widely recruited. In fact, he didn’t visit the University of Arkansas until the final weekend before national signing day.

He was committed to Georgia Tech but wanted to play in the SEC, and when he received the late offer from the Razorbacks, he said yes and thank you.

He was a three-star defensive lineman out of Huntsville, Ala., who basically went unnoticed by Alabama and Auburn.

Yet, it didn’t take long to see that those schools, and others, missed out on the 6-4, 240-pound defensive end who is running first team right now with Chris Smith.

His athleticism showed up big in the Razorbacks’ third game last season, in his home state playing the Crimson Tide, with much of his large family on hand.

Flowers sniffed out a screen pass and played it perfectly, leaping quickly and high, and it looked like it was going to be a huge turnover until the final second.

“I still think about that play,” Flowers said. “The ball went right through my hands.”

Alabama scored and went on to win easily.

“I like to think if I had caught it, I would have scored,” Flowers said. “The truth is I’m more quick than I am fast.”

Flowers runs the 40-yard dash in 4.8 seconds, but he is athletic. Last season, with Tank Wright and Jake Bequette missing several games because of injuries, the freshman was thrown into deep waters. He not only survived, he learned from the experience and improved as the season went on.

Sometimes he appeared to be getting by on being able to react more than knowing the schemes, but he said that simply wasn’t true.

“I knew the playbook,” he said. “I roomed with Tank and I’d ask him questions all the time and he helped me. So did Chris. That’s one thing about this team. If you ask for help, you’ll get it.”

Still, his ability to cut, drop back quickly and fight off blocks was obvious, but then he comes from a tight-knit athletic family.

He’s the next-to-youngest, but he’s also the one who carries the family legacy of being Robert “Trey” Flowers III.

“I have three brothers who played college football and one who played basketball,” he said.

All five boys played college athletics, and when asked if that athleticism came from his dad, who owns a construction company in Huntsville, Flowers smiled.

“He tells us he was a player before his time,” Flowers said with a soft laugh.

Robert and Jacqueline Flowers have not missed a game that Flowers can remember, and probably won’t.

Flowers was a two-time all-state player in football. He was also a standout in basketball, using his big frame and 34-inch vertical jump to dominate the boards, but there was never any doubt which sport he wanted to play.

“I absolutely love football,” he said. “I love everything about it.”

He started playing when he was 6 years old, and he was so big that the league wouldn’t allow him to play running back. He has never looked back, playing on both sides of the ball many times.

Flowers, who will turn 20 Thursday, is looking to build off last year, but he has only one goal.

“The only thing I want to do is contribute to wins, to play well enough to make enough plays,” he said. “We want the defense to help us win games.

“We’ve all heard the whispers that the defense is the big question mark going into this season. We know we have a great offense, but you can’t let what people are saying affect you on the field.”

Trey Flowers is another three-star recruit who plays much better than that.

Sports, Pages 15 on 08/10/2012

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