Razorback Report

Texas A&M QB puts Hogs on heels

Texas A&M quarterback Trevor Knight (8) breaks loose to score a long rushing touchdown late in the second quarter against Arkansas in an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016, in Arlington, Texas. (Timothy Hurst/Bryan-College Station Eagle via AP)
Texas A&M quarterback Trevor Knight (8) breaks loose to score a long rushing touchdown late in the second quarter against Arkansas in an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016, in Arlington, Texas. (Timothy Hurst/Bryan-College Station Eagle via AP)

FAYETTEVILLE -- Texas A&M quarterback Trevor Knight ripped Arkansas for 157 rushing yards on 10 carries and was responsible for four touchdowns.

Knight had runs of 62, 48 and 42 yards to account for 97 percent of his rushing total. The latter two runs went for touchdowns.

"He's a great player," Arkansas cornerback Jared Collins said. "He can throw and he can run. He surprised me with some of the runs he made. I didn't think he was that fast."

Coach Bret Bielema called Knight an explosive runner.

"He cut on a dime on two plays," Bielema said. "Those same plays or those same schemes, we've defended well at other times against quality opponents."

Arkansas defensive coordinator Robb Smith said he needed to put players in better positions to handle the quarterback runs.

"We will make sure that never happens again," Smith said. "The bottom line is we've got to execute. That's a collective letdown by our defense that we've got to learn from and improve and I think our guys have the attitude to do that."

Allen accolades

Coach Bret Bielema said linebacker Brooks Ellis' description of quarterback Austin Allen as "very quiet with calm confidence" fits the quarterback to a T.

"He's extremely tough, a little fiery," Bielema said. "You saw when he reached the ball across [the goal line] he was p***ed when he didn't get the call.

"There was a time on Saturday when he got hit pretty good and he kind of let a couple of his linemen hear about it, which I think you can do within reason because they see you stay in there time and time again."

Bielema added that fans are only beginning to see how good Allen can be.

"When you have a quarterback that plays the way he does, you've got a chance every Saturday," he said. "It shows up in our league, shows up in high school, shows up in the NFL. When you've got a guy of that toughness and that caliber and your team can rally behind you, you've got a chance every week."

Offensive coordinator Dan Enos said Allen took more hits in the fourth quarter, when Texas A&M's lead forced Arkansas to pass.

"Certainly, we don't want him to get hit at all, but sometimes you've got to hang in there and make a play," Enos said. "That's a testament to his courage and his toughness that he didn't once during the game peek at the rush at all. He was focused on the field, on his movement keys and his reads. He really played a heck of a football game."

Les and LSU

Bret Bielema talked about his appreciation for Les Miles' "amazing" winning percentage and being a fan of Miles, who was fired at LSU on Sunday.

"Les, there's been nobody more hospitable, more gracious," Bielema said. "I think he's a tremendous person. I think he's done a lot for our game.

"LSU's got to do what LSU's got to do. I've just got to play them every year. But I'm sure, I would be very confident in the fact that Les would, if he wants to, be coaching very quickly."

'No interest'

Bret Bielema was asked about his being mentioned among the possible replacements for Les Miles at LSU.

"If you do a good job people take notice," he said before mentioning an adage used by one of his mentors, Hayden Fry. "Coach Fry always used to say, there's two types of coaches, the ones that worry about the next job they have or ones that do well at the one they have.

"I've always fallen into that category. I have no interest in being a coach anywhere than Arkansas. And especially in the SEC. This is what we came to do. We're so close. We were knocking on the door Saturday of doing something really special. ... You don't want to be just a top 20 team, you want to be a top 10 team week-in and week-out and I think we're getting there."

Alcorn QBs

Alcorn State Coach Fred McNair said Monday he's not sure who will start at quarterback for the Braves against Arkansas.

Redshirt freshman Noah Johnson started the previous two games -- a 45-43 triple-overtime loss to Arkansas-Pine Bluff and a 43-18 loss at Grambling -- due to junior Lenorris Footman's ankle injury.

Footman replaced Johnson in the second quarter at Grambling and played the rest of the game, but wasn't close to full speed.

McNair said Footman was "hopping around out there" against Grambling and that he'll wait to see how he looks in practice this week before deciding on his starter.

Alcorn pay

Arkansas will pay Alcorn State a guarantee of $575,000 for Saturday's game in Little Rock, according to the Natchez (Miss.) Democrat. The UA redacts the guarantee amount in public records requests made by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

The contract, completed in June 2015, calls for the game to be worked by SEC officials.

Arkansas typically pays lower guarantees to FCS schools than it does FBS schools. Louisiana Tech received $925,000 for the opener in a game originally contracted in 2010, and Texas State received $1 million for its game two weeks ago. Both of those games were played on campus.

Tube talk

CBS has exercised its six-day exemption for SEC games of Oct. 8, which is the day No. 1 Alabama will visit Arkansas.

CBS is considering the Alabama-Arkansas game or the Tennessee at Texas A&M game for its 2:30 p.m. time slot. Each of those games will kick off at either 2:30 p.m. on CBS or at 6 or 6:15 on ESPN.

If No. 11 Tennessee wins at Georgia and No. 9 Texas A&M wins at South Carolina on Saturday, CBS could have a shot at broadcasting a top 10 matchup of unbeaten teams the following week.

On Kyler

Bret Bielema was visibly shaken and had to fight back tears when asked about Springdale High School senior receiver Kyler Williams, who died in a one-car wreck on Saturday night.

"I pulled up my Twitter account and I took a picture with him two weeks ago," Bielema said. "I was going to just Tweet out to him and his family. And I thought ... did I just violate a NCAA rule? It just made me sick, because as a human being you just want to say hey.

"But I just took a picture with the kid, you know? And Sunday everybody is feeling a little blue. So to Kyler and his family and everybody at Springdale, just know we're thinking of you."

Coley comeback

Safety De'Andre Coley, who was ejected for a targeting call in the second quarter on an incomplete third-down pass from the Texas A&M 4, will be available for Saturday's game against Alcorn State after missing the second half against the Aggies.

"We've got to use it as a teaching moment," defensive coordinator Robb Smith said. "To get to where we want to go defensively we've got to be able to come up big in critical moments and we've got to be able to play a little bit smarter. That's one of those areas that we have got to continue to improve in."

Coach Bret Bielema said the targeting ejection was Arkansas' first since Rohan Gaines was ejected for a second-half hit against LSU in 2014.

Bielema said he almost included a clip of targeting plays in a video presentation to the team last Thursday.

"I didn't do it and now I'm just sitting here with this empty feeling, because it was obviously a huge play that resulted in points for them," he said. "We were off the field."

Sports on 09/27/2016

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