FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas offensive line coach Sam Pittman said quarterback Brandon Allen endured eight hits from Florida defenders during Saturday’s 30-10 loss at No.
18 Florida, a number deemed unacceptable.
Allen was sacked twice, took several other shots while he released the ball and endured two roughing-the-passer penalties by the Gators.
“We can’t get him hit,” Pittman said. “We went a week ago and we didn’t get him hit at all. And this week we’re responsible for eight times he gets hit. I mean you can’t keep the same quarterback in the game if you do that, so we’ve got to do better.”
Pittman said the speed and physical nature of Florida pass rushers Dante Fowler and Ronald Powell played a role in Florida’s ability to pressure Allen.
“The inside twist game bothered us,” Pittman said.
“The speed of the twist game bothered us. We couldn’t react as fast as we needed to.”
Offensive coordinator Jim Chaney said the Razorbacks were put in a bind when they were forced to get one dimensional with the pass late in the second half.
“Pass protection is something that we don’t do real well,” Chaney said.
“Throwing and catching is something we’re not getting enough practice at.”Injury report
Center Travis Swanson has been deemed day-to-day this week with his injured left knee.
Swanson came out late in the third quarter and did not return. Luke Charpentier played the final 34 offensive snaps in his absence.
“He’s a competitor and he doesn’t want to let anybody down,” offensive line coach Sam Pittman said. “But the smart thing to do was to hold him out and I’m glad we did now.”
On the South Carolina front, defensive end Jadeveon Clowney did not dress for the Gamecocks’ 35-28 victory over Kentucky on Saturday while resting a muscle strain around his rib cage.
“We’ll have to wait through the week to see if he can play,” South Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier said.
Chippy
Arkansas’ Bret Bielema and Florida’s Will Muschamp were respectful to each other and their programs during game week, but some of their players weren’t as tactful.
Florida defensive tackle Damien Jacobs commented early in the week that Arkansas’ offensive line played “a little dirty,” but the Razorbacks offensive line played the game without being assessed any personal fouls.
Gators defensive linemen Ronald Powell and Dante Fowler Jr. were penalized for roughing the passer.
Powell also drew an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty and center Jon Harrison was ejected for making contact with an official.
Arkansas’ Jonathan Williams was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct on a play on which the Florida defense had jumped offsides and there was a scrum near what looked like a loose ball.
Gators nose tackle Darious Cummings shoved quarterback Brandon Allen after a play was blown dead but there was no flag.
Arkansas lineman Dan Skipper and Florida’s Daniel McMillian got tangled up on a special teams play, with no foul called. Skipper headed to the Arkansas sideline motioning to an official that McMillian had been yanking him by the helmet.
Get him down
Arkansas Caoch Bret Bielema said the most frustrating thing to occur defensively on Saturday was the Razorbacks’ inability to bring down Solomon Patton, who turned mid-range receptions into breakaway touchdowns of 51 and 38 yards late in the second quarter and early in the third.
Cornerback Tevin Mitchel had the first crack at Patton on the first touchdown, which came with 20 seconds left in the first half; Mitchel was diving in for a pass breakup on the second touchdown.
“We all know you can’t just give them free yards,” Bielema said. “And even that play right before the end of the half, OK, they complete a curl. Just get him down.
“They weren’t really having a lot of effectiveness sustaining [drives]. We were giving them a lot of big plays. Obviously the second time it happened, same thing. You’re just giving them a lot of free yardage by lack of tackling.”Punt play
Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said he had no quarrel with the penalty assessed to the the Razorbacks for interfering with a fair catch late in the second quarter at the Florida 10.
Punt returner Loucheiz Purifoy bobbled a fair catch and the carom went directly toward the Hogs’ Jarrett Lake, who wrestled it away from Purifoy.
The infraction came because by rule Purifoy is allowed to “finish” his bobbled catch without being impeded by the defense. If the ball had hit the ground, it would have been fair game.
“The rule is there to have him be allowed to catch the football 100 percent clean,” Bielema said. “It’s just one of those bam-bam plays and a very good officiating crew caught it.
“It was the correct call.
That’s why I didn’t argue it.”Grabbing Alex
Bret Bielema argued that tailback Alex Collins was seized by a Florida defender on a screen pass late in the third quarter with Arkansas at the Gators’ 13.
Bielema explained in his postgame comments that a defensive player “can actually grab somebody behind the line of scrimmage, but it was a little excessive. He couldn’t get away from him.
“But we knew that going in. We knew they’re going to grab. They’re very aggressive with their hands.”
The Gators were called for one pass interference penalty and had another declined by the Hogs on Collins’ 30-yard catch down the left sideline.
Run down
The Razorbacks rushed 11 times for 81 yards in the first quarter, but the 7.4-yard average didn’t last long.
Arkansas rushed 18 more times for 30 yards, including two sacks for 18 lost yards.
The Hogs ended up with 29 rushes for 111 yards and an average of 3.8 yards per carry.
“They started bringing more pressure, putting more people in the box and stopping the run,” quarterback Brandon Allen said. “So we had to go to the pass, and they’ve got some pretty good defensive backs.”Murphy mojo
Florida junior quarterback Tyler Murphy completed 16 of 22 passes for 240 yards and 3 touchdowns, all career highs.
The Gators are 9 for 9 in red-zone scoring since Murphy took over at quarterback two weeks ago after Jeff Driskel’s leg injury.SATURDAY’S RESULTS Florida 30, Arkansas 10 Alabama 45, Georgia State 3 Georgia 34, Tennessee 31, OT LSU 59, Mississippi State 26 Auburn 30, Mississippi 22 Missouri 51, Vanderbilt 28 South Carolina 35, Kentucky 28 SATURDAY’S GAMES All times Central Missouri at Georgia, 11 a.m.
South Carolina at Arkansas, 11:21 a.m. W. Carolina at Auburn, 1 p.m.
Florida at LSU, 2:30 p.m.
Alabama at Kentucky, 6 p.m.
Bowling Green at Mississippi State, 6:30 p.m.
Texas A&M at Mississippi, 7:30 p.m.
Arkansas (3-3, 0-2 SEC) DATE OPPONENT (TV) TIME/RESULT Aug. 31 La.-Lafayette (FSN) W, 34-14 Sept. 7 Samford (PPV)+ W, 31-21 Sept. 14 So. Mississippi (SECN) W, 24-3 Sept. 21 at Rutgers (ESPN) L, 28-24 Sept. 28 Texas A&M*(ESPN2) L, 45-33 Oct. 5 at Florida (ESPN2) L, 30-10 Oct. 12 S. Carolina (SECN) 11:21 a.m.
Oct. 19 at Alabama TBA Nov. 2 Auburn TBA Nov. 9 at Mississippi TBA Nov. 23 Mississippi State+ TBA Nov. 29 at LSU TBA SEC game +At War Memorial Stadium, Little Rock
Sports, Pages 20 on 10/07/2013