Really surprised at the heat Austin Allen is taking

[HognitiveDissonance]

Flipped on the postgame radio Saturday and caught offguard at several callers talking about how bad Allen's game was, etc.
One guy threw out the obligatory 'if Bobby wasn't his dad' card.

We are in completely different worlds on this point.
First, I have zero doubt Allen is the best QB on campus.
Second, I see a guy running for his life and taking a beating...just like last year.
I see a guy, a pathetic figure, taking so many hits he should be a human punching bag. I feel sorry for him.
Nothing, so far, has changed from last year. The O-line still cannot pass-protect. And since this is the second year of this, I'm looking at Kurt Anderson now.
Sam Pittman's O-line in 2015 allowed 8 QB sacks...ALL YEAR.

The QB has three seconds to do something with the ball.
The passing game is a team failure at this point. Little protection, receivers can't get open.
I'm not seeing a guy with plenty of time to throw who is missing wide open receivers and/or making poor judgments at the QB position.

[DeltaBoy]

He is a red shirt SR he suppose to be tough , steel minded and unflappable.

[rljjr]

Flipped on the postgame radio Saturday and caught offguard at several callers talking about how bad Allen's game was, etc.
One guy threw out the obligatory 'if Bobby wasn't his dad' card.

We are in completely different worlds on this point.
First, I have zero doubt Allen is the best QB on campus.
Second, I see a guy running for his life and taking a beating...just like last year.
I see a guy, a pathetic figure, taking so many hits he should be a human punching bag. I feel sorry for him.
Nothing, so far, has changed from last year. The O-line still cannot pass-protect. And since this is the second year of this, I'm looking at Kurt Anderson now.
Sam Pittman's O-line in 2015 allowed 8 QB sacks...ALL YEAR.

The QB has three seconds to do something with the ball.
The passing game is a team failure at this point. Little protection, receivers can't get open.
I'm not seeing a guy with plenty of time to throw who is missing wide open receivers and/or making poor judgments at the QB position.

Wholeheartedly disagree -- at least about the O line. They're doing alright most of the time on pass protection. AA has the opportunity to throw the ball, but he's not in sync with his WR's. Nobody's getting open. The line can only protect so long. It's not any one person or group. It's all of them as a unit that are struggling. AA is deserving of his piece of the criticism, but no more than his fair share.

[Hoggie17]

If Austin Allen had CBP as his HC we would be talking about how high he would go in the draft. CBP couches players up, that's why he was perfect for Arkansas. 

[Malvin]

I like Allen, I don't criticize his play and I think everybody agrees he is the best QB on campus.. and if we are honest with ourselves probably on several campuses in the SEC.

What I do criticize him on though is what he was doing during the summer/spring?  He is the senior QB, the most important figurehead/leader on the team and it's pretty obvious that he hasn't used his position on the team to motivate the receivers work out with him during the summer.  Work on routes, work on timing, work on blitz situations etc.  It was very clear on Saturday that the situational parts of the game weren't worked on and they couldn't adjust to what TCU was doing. 

When you put 8, 9+ people to stop the run, the passing game has to respond.

[PossumFan]

I don't see how you can say the passing game is a "team failure" and give the QB a pass (no pun intended). He is, after all, a key component of the team is he not?

[hoghearted]

I've always liked AA, thought he was brilliant when he started last fall. Last year, as the season went on, ruined him. His head is messed up.

[lstewart]

Not knocking Austin, and he absolutely is our best QB on campus. But I think his performance the first half of last year may have left many of us thinking he is better than he is, and maybe expecting more than he can deliver. No doubt he is tough, with all the hits he took last year. It is very possible that is part of the problem now, and he is more worried about the rush than he was in the past. I'm prone to think now that the receivers he went to last year and that are gone (Morgan, Hatcher, Sprinkle, etc), were a bigger part of his success than we gave them credit for. Austin has now played about as many subpar games as what he has played strong games. Clearly the new receivers are not doing enough for him to be able to put up big numbers. But maybe the guys that left were able to get so open, that was the biggest reason for his success. Again, his toughness is off the charts. Hope we get the passing game going.

[BigBrandonAllenFan]

He has 10 more games to redeem himself, because Beilema isn't going to play anyone else and risk proving people right about needing a different QB.

[hogfan14]

I think some of the blame has to go to the receivers and lack of running game, but there were several deep throws that weren't even close. Like 15 yards away from the receiver. Not sure why he was missing so much on those when he had several deep TDs last year.

[BassinHawg]

Why was he under center so much Saturday? Why not more shotgun?

Something is not right!

[010HogFan]

He missed some throws really badly in the TCU game. He had an easy touchdown down the right sideline if he threw it to the right spot. I think it was to Stewart. He underthrew it bad and drew a pass interference call instead. He had his man beat by 10 yards. I question whether or not he is fully healthy, because it looked like he couldn't get any air under the ball.

[Mr. Barnett (rbarnet424)]

During yesterday's PC CBB mentioned something about not being able to practice full speed on offense until now...then he shifted by talking about Cornelius but i wonder if perhaps Austin has been limited in practice? Seems like they should be able to go full speed with the rest of the guys if it was only JC.

[woodrow hog call]

I think some of the blame has to go to the receivers and lack of running game, but there were several deep throws that weren't even close. Like 15 yards away from the receiver. Not sure why he was missing so much on those when he had several deep TDs last year.

Yeah and it wasn't lack of arm strength on at least one or two throws, they sailed on him and were severely over thrown. One of them towards the north end where we sat, my son and I just looked at each other and both said wow, at the same time.

That coupled with the fact that he sometimes didn't have anybody to throw to, put us behind the sticks a lot of the game.

[The Anti-Longhorn]

The passing game is not very effective.  Neither is the running game.  No matter who is at fault, it has to be fixed ASAP.  If it is not fixed, I will need way more bourbon than my budget can afford. 

AA looks bad, but I don't know if it is him or the receivers.  Some of his throws are to absolutely no one.  I don't know how he hasn't been picked off more.  He's a tough kid.  I hope the offense gets it together.  I'd love to see him succeed.

[hobhog]

Angry fans eat their own. Especially on this board.

[johnny cash]

He has 10 more games to redeem himself, because Beilema isn't going to play anyone else and risk proving people right about needing a different QB.

he is proving that we need another coach well however.

[Dwight_K_Shrute]

QB PTSD is real.  Ruined Tyler Wilson as well.  You hear those footsteps coming even when they are not.  Very similar to the black dog.

[urkillnmesmalls]

The passing game is not very effective.  Neither is the running game.  No matter who is at fault, it has to be fixed ASAP.  If it is not fixed, I will need way more bourbon than my budget can afford. 

AA looks bad, but I don't know if it is him or the receivers.  Some of his throws are to absolutely no one.  I don't know how he hasn't been picked off more.  He's a tough kid.  I hope the offense gets it together.  I'd love to see him succeed.

This.  Remember back when BA made poor decisions, and they simplified things to....check your primary and secondary, and if things don't look good, send it to the 5th row.  He threw the ball out of bounds a LOT his Jr. year, which helped him regain his confidence and not have everything on his shoulders.  Live to fight another down...  And if you also recall, a big part of the issue was that he simply had no one open to throw to.  Then the very next season, things started to click, and he was much more proficient with his reads, and he was on the same page as the receivers AND he developed a deep confidence in them. 

I don't know what will work for AA, but you can see just in his demeanor that he's frustrated, and he runs WAY more on emotion than his brother.  He needs to just shrug it off, not harp on it with the receivers, and try to do better the next play. 

[TebowHater]

Our receivers have to get open. Rewatched the film really focussing on them and he legitimately had no where to throw it. When he did, the receivers sometimes made the wrong read. On two of the overthrows, the WRs fell down or were held up, which was their fault per my opinion and Bielema's per his PC

[Hog Fan...DOH!]

Brandon Allen missed a huge throw to beat Toledo.  He was terrible.  The worst.

He now plays for the Rams. 

[GuvHog]

No doubt, AA is the best QB on campus.....when he's on. He has not been on the last 2 games. He and his receivers have been out of sync. They really need to get it together and AA needs to get on his game or it's going to be another long year.

[urkillnmesmalls]

Our receivers have to get open. Rewatched the film really focussing on them and he legitimately had no where to throw it. When he did, the receivers sometimes made the wrong read. On two of the overthrows, the WRs fell down or were held up, which was their fault per my opinion and Bielema's per his PC

That's why I cringe when they talk about the QB holding the ball too long.  Sometimes it doesn't tell the whole story, and until the receivers can do better at getting open, they need to simplify, shorten the clock in AA's head, and get it out of bounds if things go awry.  Competitors want to make plays, but that's when bad things happen.  Live to fight another down.

I don't see a lot of confidence out there, and unfortunately that doesn't typically just come when you want it to.  It takes a modicum of success, and that's what we need.  Hopefully JC is up to full speed now, took off the butter covered gloves, and we'll see some good things in a few weekends.   

[IronHog]

If Austin Allen had CBP as his HC we would be talking about how high he would go in the draft. CBP couches players up, that's why he was perfect for Arkansas. 

Winner.


Would have loved to see BP coach Brandon Allen.

[IronHog]

QB PTSD is real.  Ruined Tyler Wilson as well.  You hear those footsteps coming even when they are not.  Very similar to the black dog.

Sadly Tyler Wilson apparently couldn't learn a full playbook.....

[Jonbo]

I saw lots of coverage hits on Saturday. He is holding the ball a LONG time. I haven't a clue, really, how to assign blame for that, except to add that Saturday was the most pitiful performance by a receiving corps I have ever seen. Anyway, when BA would have long since rolled to his right and thrown it to Granny, AA's standing in there taking a hit. That said, I am concerned that he's lost his nerve some since the middle of last season when he was getting roughed up a lot. He appears to me (for whatever that's worth, lol!) like he may be playing scared a little. But on Saturday it looked to me like the O-line was giving him, mostly, at least the usual amount of time a quarterback gets.

[urkillnmesmalls]

Sadly Tyler Wilson apparently couldn't learn a full playbook.....

Maybe he got to page 15, and forgot 1-14 from all the slobberknockers that Bama and LSU put on him.  That guy got up from some hits that I thought were going to send him straight to the hospital, and nearly the morgue.  He was as tough as nails... 

[IronHog]

Maybe he got to page 15, and forgot 1-14 from all the slobberknockers that Bama and LSU put on him.  That guy got up from some hits that I thought were going to send him straight to the hospital, and nearly the morgue.  He was as tough as nails... 

You'd think he woulda tried to move out of the way occasionally.


Guy was tough and a great arm talent.  Not so much on the finer points of quarterbacking though.....

[codeHog]

He has 10 more games to redeem himself, because Beilema isn't going to play anyone else and risk proving people right about needing a different QB.

[urkillnmesmalls]

I saw lots of coverage hits on Saturday. He is holding the ball a LONG time. I haven't a clue, really, how to assign blame for that, except to add that Saturday was the most pitiful performance by a receiving corps I have ever seen. Anyway, when BA would have long since rolled to his right and thrown it to Granny, AA's standing in there taking a hit. That said, I am concerned that he's lost his nerve some since the middle of last season when he was getting roughed up a lot. He appears to me (for whatever that's worth, lol!) like he may be playing scared a little. But on Saturday it looked to me like the O-line was giving him, mostly, at least the usual amount of time a quarterback gets.

You can't wait for separation.  You have to throw the receivers open.  You simply cannot do that when you can't count on them being where they are supposed to be.  Either AA is throwing the ball to the wrong spots when he tries that, or the receivers aren't running the correct routes.  Maybe a combination. 

Thing is...a timed throw on a simple curl route shoudn't be able to be defended BY THE DEFENSE TCU was employing.  On a 1 on 1 situation, if you can't sprint 10 yards, turn around, and run toward the QB and be open for at least 1 second, then you have no chance of being successful.  Run that same route, stop and DON'T come back toward the QB, and it's probably going to be broken up or possibly picked off.  Something that simple can make things look completely broken, when in fact it's something minor that just isn't being executed meticulously. 

And sadly, that's a pattern we've seen under BB and Enos, and while I understand experience is something you get just after you needed it, we should be seeing players developing faster under a stable and consistent system year after year.  But...it looks like we start over EVERY year. 

[urkillnmesmalls]

You'd think he woulda tried to move out of the way occasionally.


Guy was tough and a great arm talent.  Not so much on the finer points of quarterbacking though.....

"Get ball, hold ball, throw ball."  I think that was as far as he was thinking, because he just got obliterated right after step three WAAAAY too many times. 

[IronHog]

"Get ball, hold ball, throw ball."  I think that was as far as he was thinking, because he just got obliterated right after step three WAAAAY too many times. 

QB called protection in BPs system.  Big reason for all the cussing

[HognitiveDissonance]

I don't see how you can say the passing game is a "team failure" and give the QB a pass (no pun intended). He is, after all, a key component of the team is he not?

True, but these radio callers were talking solely about Allen being 9 for 23 and not talking about the O-line and WRs at all.

The picture they seemed to be painting was a QB missing wide open receivers and with plenty of time to throw.

[HognitiveDissonance]

I think some of the blame has to go to the receivers and lack of running game, but there were several deep throws that weren't even close. Like 15 yards away from the receiver. Not sure why he was missing so much on those when he had several deep TDs last year.

I may be totally wrong, but my first thought on a couple of deep throws that were to 'nobody' was that 'he just threw that away'.
He was about to take a hit and rather than take the sack he just chunked it downfield.