FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas offensive coordinator Jim Chaney said quarterback Brandon Allen appeared to recover well from going the distance in the Razorbacks’ 45-33 loss to Texas A&M.
Allen had one solid day of passing - last Wednesday - after suffering a shoulder sprain while landing on his right shoulder on Sept. 14.
“He appeared fine to me today,” Chaney said Sunday evening. “We didn’t do anything today, but you know I’m sure he’s a little tender like everybody is after a game. I didn’t notice anything substantial with him today.”
Allen was fitted with extra padding to protect his right shoulder and completed 17 of 36 passes for 282 yards and 3 touchdowns. The sophomore was not sacked and hit on only two or three occasions.
Allen said he realized on Thursday, after judging his soreness from a day of throwing on Wednesday, that he’d probably be able to start.
Coach Bret Bielema played coy with Allen’s status a bit on Thursday before announcing on his Twitter feed on Friday evening that Allen was “back.”
Chaney said Allen’s play was reflective of the entire offense’s in that he made some technical errors.
“I think the rust showed up in a few of his decisions on where he went with the ball, not being able to get ample amounts of reps on some plays, and quite honestly I called a few plays that probably I shouldn’t have because he hadn’t had a lot of reps at it,” Chaney said.
“It showed up with the details of his technical side of his game. If I had to do it back, I’d rewind a few of those calls, no question, to help him on those.” Tube talk
The Arkansas at Florida game was chosen for a 6 p.m. kickoff, as expected, for Saturday. CBS exercised its first six-day option last week, then chose the Georgia at Tennessee game for the prime 2:30 p.m. slot.
The Razorbacks will face the Gators for the first time since 2009 on ESPN2.
Injury report
Tailback Nate Holmes, who missed the Texas A&M game after rolling an ankle early last week, is expected to return to practice on Tuesday, Coach Bret Bielema said on Saturday.
Defensive coordinator Chris Ash said middle linebacker Austin Jones was dealing with a hip pointer last week and the senior did not take snaps against Texas A&M.
Korliss comes in
Freshman Korliss Marshall made an auspicious debut on Saturday, taking a direct shot to the midsection from the Aggies’ Tony Hurd Jr., but bouncing off, then plowing over a couple of tacklers on his 38-yard kickoff return on the Hogs’ first touch of the game.
Marshall later took a pitch over left end and bolted 16 yards for a first down on the snap before Jonathan Williams’ 19-yard touchdown catch from Brandon Allen.
Penalties
Arkansas had one penalty for 5 yards against Texas A&M, bumping the Razorbacks up to a tie for No. 18 with 4.2 penalties per game and No. 37 with 43 penalty yards per game.
Stat leader
Arkansas will take on the national leader in three different categories when it visits No. 18 Florida in the Swamp. The Gators lead the nation in rush defense (53.5 yards per game), time of possession (38:58 per game) and in third-down defense by allowing 17.8 percent of third-down conversions.
Arkansas is No. 13 in time of possession (33:38), No. 36 in rush defense (126.4) and No. 43 in third-down defense (35.3 percent).
The Gators, for all their quarterback issues, lead the SEC with 69.9 percent pass completions.
One shy
Alex Collins posted his fourth 100-yard rushing game with 116 yards on 14 carries. Collins is now one 100-yard game short of Darren McFadden’s school record for a freshman.
Back to Jerry’s
The Arkansas-Texas A&M series is now contractually bound to return to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the home of former Arkansas lineman Jerry Jones’ Dallas Cowboys, starting next season for 11 consecutive years.
The series broke off to home campuses for a two year cycle in 2012 at Texas A&M’s insistence as it joined the SEC, and the Aggies won both games by a combined score of 103-43.
Arkansas won the first three games of the renewed series, dubbed the Southwest Classic, at Cowboys Stadium from 2009-2011 by a combined score of 113-74.
Hocker run
Zach Hocker is alone second in the Arkansas record book with 55 career field goals, breaking a tie with Steve Little (1974-1977), who had 53. Todd Wright holds the Arkansas record with 60 field goals from 1989-1992.
Hocker scored nine points against Texas A&M to move into 13th place on the SEC’s career scoring list with 324 points, passing Tennessee kicker John Becksvoort (317) and LSU tailback Kevin Faulk (318).
Sack stat
Senior Chris Smith was credited with a half-sack for a 7-yard loss on Johnny Manziel in the second quarter. Smith moved into a tie with Marcus Adair (1993-1995) for fifth place on Arkansas’ career sacks chart with 19. Next up the ladder is Steven Conley, who had 21 sacks from 1992-1995.
VIP visitors
SEC commissioner Mike Slive, assistant commissioner Mark Womack and Larry Templeton, the former Mississippi State Athletic Director were all in attendance on Saturday at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
Sports, Pages 18 on 09/30/2013