TAT: Past Will Help Allen's Game in the Future

This article originally appeared in the September 21, 2012 Football Edition of The Arkansas Traveler.

     The NFL has the Manning brothers. The NBA has Doc and Austin Rivers. Baseball has the Griffeys.

     Northwest Arkansas’ version of a famous sports family is the Allens.

     Bobby Allen is the secondary coach for the Razorback football team, Christian is a senior baseball player at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, Brandon is a redshirt freshman quarterback for the Hogs, Austin is a senior quarterback at Fayetteville High and is committed to Arkansas and Daniela is a sophomore basketball player at Fayetteville High.

     “It was competitive with everything,” Austin Allen said. “We’d go to the backyard and play one-on-one basketball and it ended in tears when we were younger.”

     Recently, Brandon has been the most publicized. After starting the season as the backup quarterback, he was thrust into the starting position midway through the second game after senior Tyler Wilson was injured.

     While this was his first major collegiate experience, many people across the state knew of him already. At Fayetteville High School, Brandon Allen threw for 10,068 yards and earned All-State honors as a senior.

     Even before starting high school, Fayetteville head coach Daryl Patton knew Brandon Allen had talent.

     “We knew he was gifted,” Patton said. “He was very physically mature as a ninth grader and he could make throws that some of our high school quarterbacks couldn’t make.”

     Once he got there, Brandon Allen had an immediate impact, throwing for over 3,000 yards in his first season.

     However, he also threw 20 interceptions. Over the next two seasons, he decreased that number.

     “He improved every year,” Patton said. “He had 20 interceptions as a sophomore, as a junior he had five and as a senior he didn’t have one during the regular season.”

     One reason he improved so much was because of his preparation off the field.

     “He has great work ethic,” Austin Allen said. “He watches a lot of film and he’s always trying to get better and find something new to get better at.”

     Following his senior year, in which he led his team to the state championship game, he signed with the Razorbacks. Last year he redshirted as he learned under Wilson.

     When he replaced Wilson in the ULM game, Brandon Allen led the Hogs on a 67-yard drive that ended on a 13-yard touchdown pass to freshman Mekale McKay. He finished the game with 85 yards on 6-for-20 passing and one interception.

     Against No. 1 Alabama, Brandon Allen was 10-for-18 with 60 yards and two interceptions.

     Despite the underwhelming stats, positives can be taken from the two games. It was a “tough situation” to be put into, Wilson said.

     “If I put myself in a position that Brandon Allen was in, as a redshirt freshman, I’m not sure if I could have even done what he did out there,” Wilson said. “I sent him a text (Sunday) night and I said, ‘Man, you did a pretty good job. I’m proud of you.’”

     Brandon Allen’s high school quarterbacks coach and former Razorback Zak Clark echoes this feeling.

     “That’s a tough spot. It’s always tough going into the game after an injury and then to start against (Alabama), who is really good on defense,” Clark said. “I’m proud of him. You can forget what the fans are saying. In my opinion, he played really well for his first start.”

     Clark, who started nine games at quarterback for the Hogs in 2001, even said he would have traded his first start for Brandon Allen’s.

     Brandon Allen said he gained a lot from the experience as well.

     “Being in games and taking more reps in games was really big for me,” Brandon Allen said. “My confidence is up and I have matured a lot.”

     As for the future, Patton is sure Brandon Allen will figure everything out, just as he has in the past.

     “What he’s going through right now kind of resembles what he went through as a sophomore for us. He had high expectations for himself and we were coming off winning a state championship,” Patton said.

     “He had a big year for us, but he threw 20 interceptions,” Patton said. “He had to learn from that. The game is going to slow down for him.”

     Whether Brandon Allen plays much more this season depends on the health of Wilson, but in the future, Hog fans can expect him to be “something special,” Patton said.

     “When I see Brandon, I see a guy that’s going to continue to improve and by the time he’s a senior, maybe a junior, I don’t see anybody better in the country,” Patton said. “I think he’s going to be a fantastic quarterback.”