FAYETTEVILLE -- After declaring of senior three-year starter Brandon Allen that "there is no other quarterback here that is in his ballpark," Arkansas Razorbacks Coach Bret Bielema must now find a backup at least in the parking lot of that ballpark.
It's an ongoing quest, although Bielema acknowledged a leading candidate even as two were listed equally following spring practice.
Third-year sophomore Austin Allen quarterbacked from 7:53 in the second quarter to the finish in relief of Brandon Allen, his brother, during last season's 30-0 victory over Ole Miss.
The other two scholarship reserve quarterbacks, Rafe Peavey and Ty Storey, have not debuted officially.
Peavey redshirted as a freshman last autumn. He enrolled at Arkansas in January 2014 and took part in spring practice after graduating high school early in Bolivar, Mo..
Storey, another midterm graduate, was at Charleston High School last autumn and enrolled at Arkansas in January. He practiced in spring drills and seems likely to redshirt given that Fayetteville High graduates Brandon and Austin Allen and Peavey redshirted previously.
Bielema said he won't decide Storey's status for 2015 until after the first two weeks of preseason practices in August, but the quarterback closed spring drills competing with Austin Allen and Peavey.
"The last two weeks of spring ball we made a little bit of a push to try to get a few more reps for Austin and Rafe, and obviously that took some away from Ty," Bielema said during Tuesday's SEC teleconference. "We wanted to give those guys a chance to work with the ones a little bit."
Austin Allen and Peavey responded similarly. So similarly that their separation seems to be how Austin performed against Ole Miss. Inheriting a 17-0 lead from his injured brother, Austin completed 3 of 5 passes for 65 yards, including a 33-yarder to Keon Hatcher and a 28-yarder to Drew Morgan. He led the Razorbacks on two field goal drives, and safety Rohan Gaines' 100-yard interception return provided an additional touchdown.
"I would say Rafe and Austin did a nice job with the ones when they got in there," Bielema said. "So what we hoped would happen was there would be a little bit of separation, but the good news was both of them did good.
"I would think Austin still would have an upper hand because I am a big believer in seeing and believing what he did in that Ole Miss game. The composure and having those game reps, he would be slightly ahead of Rafe. He has got great awareness, a more than adequate arm. He can do some things with his feet that are very, very impressive."
Apparently Peavey's arm impresses even more.
"Rafe probably has maybe the best arm of the group as far as being just a pure passer, but at times gets a little erratic and his composure has got to continue to come around," Bielema said. "But by no means am I disappointed at all with those two guys, and I think Ty is going to keep pushing."
Sports on 05/16/2015