TAT: Bielema Still Confident With Allen

This article originally appeared on October 15, 2013 on The Arkansas Traveler website, uatrav.com.

Despite his starting quarterback’s recent struggles, Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema remains fully supportive of Brandon Allen, Bielema said at his weekly Monday press conference.

In the last two games, Allen has completed only 39.6 percent of his passes for 194 yards and two interceptions.

However, Bielema said that all of the blame should not be put on Allen. Blown protection on the offensive line and receivers not getting open have contributed to Allen’s low numbers, he said.

These numbers, combined with the fact that Arkansas has lost four consecutive games, have led some fans to call for a change at the quarterback position, but Bielema insists that Allen will remain the starting quarterback.

“There is no doubt in my mind that he is the best option, 100 percent, moving forward,” Bielema said. “If there was a guy that I thought gave us a better chance, we would play him.”

On the injury front, the Razorbacks suffered a blow to the defensive line. Senior defensive tackle Robert Thomas suffered a broken bone in his leg Saturday that required surgery Sunday evening. The recovery time is three to four months, so his career at Arkansas is over.

Redshirt freshman Darius Philon will replace Thomas. Philon has appeared in all seven games and has 18 tackles, six tackles for loss and three sacks.

“Darius Philon has really come on and played really well,” Bielema said. “He has played his best football the last three or four weeks.”

After not appearing in Saturday’s game against South Carolina, junior linebacker Martrell Spaight should be able to practice Tuesday, Bielema said, as will Travis Swanson and Byran Jones, who missed some practice time last week but played Saturday.

Following the film session Sunday, Bielema and the coaching staff ran a short scrimmage for all of the young players that played fewer than 30 plays Saturday.

During the scrimmage, several players stood out to Bielema, including true freshman quarterbacks Austin Allen and Damon Mitchell.

“(Mitchell) had a couple of nice series and Austin had one nice series,” Bielema said. “Both have shown that they’ve grown quite a bit since fall camp.”

The Razorbacks are on the road Saturday, traveling to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to face No. 1 Alabama. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. and the game will air nationally on ESPN.