Razorback Report

Henry in Mackey's final three

Arkansas tight end Hunter Henry celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the third quarter of a game against Mississippi State on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015, at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.
Arkansas tight end Hunter Henry celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the third quarter of a game against Mississippi State on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015, at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Junior Hunter Henry, who took over the lead in receiving yardage among FBS tight ends with a big game last weekend, is among three finalists for the Mackey Award.

The Mackey Award is given to the nation's top tight end and was won by former Razorback D.J. Williams in 2010.

Henry, of Little Rock, had 7 catches for a career-high 129 yards with 2 touchdowns against Mississippi State. His 619 receiving yards are the most among the nation's tight ends, as are his 30 catches for first downs.

"It's cool man," Henry said Tuesday evening. "I actually just found out. It's definitely an honor. It's huge, but I definitely couldn't do it without Brandon [Allen] and all the other guys. It's going to be cool to represent my family and this university with that."

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Henry is joined as a finalist by Stanford's Austin Hooper and Clemson's Jordan Leggett. Hooper has 26 catches for 379 yards and 5 touchdowns, and Leggett has 27 catches for 345 yards and 6 touchdowns.

The winner will be announced on Dec. 9.

Record breaker

Brandon Allen set Arkansas records for single-game passing touchdowns and career touchdowns in last Saturday's 51-50 loss to Mississippi State and combined with Dak Prescott for another record.

The 12 combined touchdown passes thrown by Allen (7) and Prescott (5) were the most in the Football Bowl Subdivision this year, according to research by Stats LLC. The previous high was nine.

Allen has been involved on both the winning and the losing side of two of the most prolific touchdown passing games in college football this year. He threw six touchdown passes and Ole Miss' Chad Kelly had three in Arkansas' 53-52 victory in overtime against the Rebels. The nine combined touchdown passes in that game tied for the most in the FBS prior to Saturday's shootout.

The other nine-touchdown games featured Arizona State's Mike Bercovici (5) vs. Oregon's Vernon Adams Jr. (4); Toledo's Phillip Ely (5) vs. UMass' Blake Frohnapfel (4); and Baylor's Seth Russell (5) vs. West Virginia's Skyler Howard (4).

Allen's 63 career touchdown passes surpassed Ryan Mallett's 62 for the most in school history.

Going big

The Razorbacks practiced inside Reynolds Razorback Stadium on Tuesday in preparation for Friday's game against Missouri.

"We want to play really well in our last game in our home state, especially the seniors," quarterback Brandon Allen said. "So any chance we can get to be in the stadium, get familiar with the surroundings and all that, can't hurt."

Senior standouts

Arkansas running back Jonathan Williams and guard Sebastian Tretola have accepted invitations to the Senior Bowl, the bowl announced Tuesday.

"That's the big one," Tretola said. "That's the one where everybody wants to be. I'm so excited and anxious and glad I'm going to get that opportunity."

Williams, a 1,190-yard rusher last season, has not played this year as he recovers from a foot injury sustained in Arkansas' first scrimmage of fall camp Aug. 15. The Allen, Texas, native was regarded as a third- to fifth-round pick last winter before declaring on Christmas Eve he would return for his senior season.

Coach Bret Bielema said Monday he was leaving the option open for Williams to return next season.

Tretola, a 6-5, 334-pounder from San Bernadino, Calif., has emerged as one of the nation's top offensive guards in two seasons at Arkansas after transferring from Iowa Western College.

Four players on the field Friday at Reynolds Razorback Stadium are targeted to play in the premier college all-star game. Missouri linebacker Kentrell Brothers and offensive tackle Connor McGovern also have been named to the Senior Bowl.

Louisiana Tech running back Kenneth Dixon (Strong) also has accepted a Senior Bowl invitation.

What's your point?

Missouri and its SEC opponents have combined for 191 total points in seven league games, a total exceeded by Arkansas in two games against the SEC's Mississippi schools (206).

The Razorbacks and their seven SEC opponents have combined for 485 points, an average of 69.3 points per game. Missouri and its league opponents have combined for an average of 27.3 points per game.

Arkansas' 51-50 loss to Mississippi State had more combined points (101) than Missouri and its opponents have scored in the Tigers' past four SEC games (99).

Arkansas is No. 2 in the SEC and tied for No. 23 nationally with 35.8 points per game. Missouri is No. 125 with an average of 14.5 points per game, ahead of only Kent State (14.3) and Vanderbilt (14.0).

Ellis in lead

Junior linebacker Brooks Ellis moved back in front of freshman Dre Greenlaw for the team tackles lead with 15 stops against the Bulldogs. Ellis tied his career high in tackles, established earlier this season in a 27-14 loss at Alabama.

Ellis will enter the regular-season finale with 95 tackles to Greenlaw's 88. Greenlaw, who had at least 10 tackles three of the past four games, wound up with four Saturday.

Bowl picks

ESPN.com's Brett McMurphy carried over his bowl projection from last week, projecting Arkansas will face Northwestern in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1 in Tampa, Fla. ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach is projecting Arkansas will face Duke in the Belk Bowl in Charlotte, N.C. on Dec. 30.

Odom ready

Missouri's defense is ranked among the top units in the nation, and coordinator Barry Odom has made it clear he'd like to take over a head coaching gig in the near future.

Odom is considered a candidate for the Missouri job with Coach Gary Pinkel stepping down after the season because of health considerations. Pinkel has spent 15 years as the Tigers coach.

"I'm not afraid to say that," Odom said. "I'm going to be a head coach. Don't know when, don't know where. That's what I want to do.

"Every year you set goals on what you want to do. From a career standpoint, you get in this business and I want to be the best. I want to be the best coordinator there is. Eventually someday I want to be the best head coach there is."

The Tigers rank No. 10 in total defense, allowing an average of 301.3 yards per game.

Banner delivery

The 11-by-28 foot banner of support signed by thousands of University of Arkansas students, faculty staff and fans in support of Oklahoma State was officially presented Monday to Oklahoma State President Burns Hargis in Stillwater, Okla., in advance of the Cowboys' annual "Bedlam" rivalry game against Oklahoma.

Arkansas officials made the banner in response to the tragedy during the homecoming parade on the Oklahoma State campus in October, when a car broke through barriers and killed four parade goers and injured 50 others.

Sports on 11/25/2015

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