Allen boys huddle up

Tenth in a series profiling newcomers to the Arkansas football team.

FAYETTEVILLE - Austin Allen has no worries about competing at quarterback with his older brother, Brandon, on the Arkansas football team.

“I think it’s going to be great,” Austin Allen said. “When we were at Fayetteville High, he taught me a lot about playing quarterback at that level, and I feel like he’ll do the same thing at Arkansas.

“I’m sure Brandon wants me to compete and have a situation where we push each other. That’s what all the quarterbacks are going to do.”

Brandon Allen, a redshirt sophomore, is the Razorbacks’ projected starter going into preseason practice after winning the No. 1 job from Brandon Mitchell last spring. Mitchell has since transferred to North Carolina State.

That leaves incoming freshmen Austin Allen and Damon Mitchell, along with Brandon Allen, as the three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster.

Brandon Mitchell’s departure means Austin Allen might have to be ready to play this season.

“I’m just going to go in there and compete, learn the offense, get accustomed to the speed of the game and do the best job that I can,” Austin Allen said. “Redshirting would be ideal, but whatever the coaches decide they need me to do, I’ll be happy to do it.”

Brandon Allen said it’s going to be “kind of cool” being his younger brother’s teammate.

“I’m willing to help him out in any way he needs me,” Brandon Allen said. “I’m always there for him.”

Austin Allen was Fayetteville’s backup quarterback as a sophomore when Brandon was the senior starter. Austin Allen started as a junior and senior and helped the Bulldogs win back-to-back Class 7A state championships while being selected as the title game MVP both years.

As a senior, Austin Allen completed 233 of 366 passes (63.7 percent) for 3,593 yards and 29 touchdowns. He also rushed for 200 yards and 10 touchdowns. He completed 270 of 420 passes (64.3 percent) for 4,150 yards and 46 touchdowns his junior season and rushed for 300 yards and 6 touchdowns.

“I think he can be a great player, there’s no doubt about it,” Brandon Allen said. “He broke a lot of my records in high school.

“I know he can really go out there and throw the ball. I think the main thing he’s going to learn when he first gets here is how much time it takes off the field to be a great quarterback on the field. That’s something he’s going to wake up to, and I think he’ll embrace it and be fine.”

Fayetteville Coach Daryl Patton and offensive coordinator Zak Clark have lost track of how many times they’ve been asked to compare the Allen brothers.

“You can’t find two kids almost identical as they were,” Patton said. “As far as arm strength, about the same. Foot speed, about the same. Intelligence, just quarterback IQ , uncannily similar. Just great leaders on the field and off the field.

“I think with both of them being at the UA that you don’t have to change the game plan from one to the other.”

Patton and Clark said there is one difference in the way the Allen brothers play.

“Brandon would take off and scramble around for what seemed like 10 seconds, or take off and pick up big yards down the field,” Clark said. “Austin is a willing runner, but that’s not his strength. He’s very good moving in the pocket and buying time, but he’s going to stay in the pocket and throw the ball downfield.”

Clark said it was impressive to watch Austin Allen step in for his brother as Fayetteville’s starting quarterback.

“It’s tough following a big brother whose had a lot of success, but Austin is comfortable in his own skin,” Clark said. “He doesn’t try to be anybody but himself.

“Austin was relaxed and let his natural ability take over. He didn’t let the pressure or the expectations of his last name or what his brother had done affect him.”

Bentonville beat Fayetteville 41-6 in 2011 in the teams’ conference opener, but the Bulldogs went on to finish 12-2 and beat the Tigers 29-28 in overtime in the state championship game.

“It never fazed Austin,” Patton said of the 35-point loss to Bentonville in the regular season. “He came back the next day in practice, you’d have thought we won the ballgame. The kids really rallied around that.”

“They followed his lead and they just said we’re going to worry about each week. That was kind of the motto we used. A lot of it goes back to Austin.”

Clark said the most impressive part of Austin Allen’s game might be his toughness.

“When he gets pressured in the pocket, when things break down, he’s as good as there is looking down the barrel and delivering the ball with a strong and accurate throw,” Clark said. “He was fearless for us.”

Arkansas offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jim Chaney held the same position at Tennessee when he saw Austin Allen work out at Fayetteville the spring before his senior season.

“We didn’t get to see him do a lot because it was pouring down rain, but I saw enough to know I really liked him and offered him a scholarship to Tennessee,” Chaney said. “Then life has its changes, and I’m sitting here getting ready to coach a young man I liked from my last job.

“I couldn’t be happier. This is a good football player and quality kid. I’m happy to have him.”

Austin Allen said he never seriously considered going anywhere but Arkansas, where his father, Bobby, was an assistant coach the previous 15 seasons and is now director of high school relations.

“It was my dream growing up to play for the Razorbacks,” Austin Allen said. “I’ve been around the program for a while now, so I know how practices are run, the intensity level, what kind of things you need to do. I think I know what to expect.”

Clark, who played quarterback at Fayetteville and Arkansas before finishing his career at Central Arkansas, said he expects the Allen brothers to enjoy being teammates again.

“When they were both at Fayetteville, you could tell they have a healthy relationship,” Clark said. “They’re going to enjoy being at practice together, being in the meetings, lifting weights.

“They really care about each other. There’s not a negative rivalry between the two.”