Collins in Bielema’s doghouse

FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema announced Monday he has suspended star tailback Alex Collins from team football activities for this week.

Bielema did not reveal the specific issue or issues for the suspension, but he framed his remarks around players needing to make strides in academics among other areas.

“Alex will be out this week, see how he handles this week, and get ourselves moving forward,” Bielema said. “You’ll probably see that he is not going to be as active on Twitter and everything else as well.

“He’s been removed from all social media until further notice. He’s a tremendous young man that has to step up in certain areas to get where we want to be and I think he’ll do that.”

Collins, one of Arkansas’ prized recruits from the 2013 signing class, became the second Razorbacks freshman to surpass 1,000 yards rushing when he ran for 1,026 yards and four touchdowns. The 5-11, 206-pounder from South Plantation High School in Fort Lauderdale,Fla., joined two-time Doak Walker Award winner Darren McFadden as the only Arkansas freshmen to rush for 1,000 yards.

Collins’ one-week suspension follows that of running back Korliss Marshall, walk-on receiver Nathan Crouch and walk-on running back Bubba Jenkins, who Bielema said were reinstated off similar suspensions from last week.

“We’re in an eight-week window of winter conditioning,” Bielema said. “Four weeks have gone by and if you’re not moving forward, you’re not helping us at all.

“We need to see guys make physical gains, strength gains and then definitely in the academic area. And if somebody is lacking in those three areas, it’s pretty easy for me to remove the football side of it until they figure it out, because that usually makes kids a little bit more accountable.”

Bielema said Collins’ suspension means he’s not included in weight-lifting groups, has more free time for academic work and gets personal time with strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert.

“They’ll go through one-on-one individual workouts with Ben Herbert, which sometimes you wish you were in the regular mainstream of what they’re doing,” Bielema said.

Sports, Pages 13 on 02/11/2014

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