Arkansas Razorbacks Football

Now is not the time for Arkansas to receive any more bad news. Star defensive tackle Robert Thomas will miss the remainder of the season and likely his career after undergoing surgery on Sunday.

Robbie Neiswanger of the Arkansas News Bureau confirmed the injury:

Head coach Bret Bielema announced that Thomas suffered a broken leg after last week's embarrassing 52-7 loss to South Carolina, per the Arkansas News.

"I know he’s going over for surgery now. So we won’t have him for a long time," Bielema said. "I’ll get the specifics of that and try to get that out as soon as possible. But too bad there, he’s a great kid. He’s been truly one of the biggest blessings for me as a head coach to have, to lean on him. He’s obviously a good player, but a really, really good leader. It sucks for him."

Arkansas has now lost four straight after beginning the season with three consecutive wins.

To make matters worse, Thomas was one of the most effective players for the Razorbacks. The senior defensive tackle was having his best season yet; he is sixth on the team with 31 tackles.

However, he's a lot more than a run-stuffer and tackling machine. His six tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks indicate that Thomas also does a nice job making plays in the backfield.

The Razorbacks' aggressive defense that leads the SEC with 20 sacks was one of the things they had going for them heading into the heart of the conference schedule.

Now, they'll have to move on without the senior leader in the middle of the line.

Sophomore DeMarcus Hodge will likely replace Thomas for the remainder of the season. He played in three games last year and has seen action in four this year. In limited action, he has eight tackles and one tackle for loss. However, he isn't nearly as dominant as Thomas, as Hodge is on the shorter side at 6'1" and isn't as athletic.

While this news isn't what anybody wanted to hear, the team must put it behind them with a trip to Alabama on deck.

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Football and sloppy: It's never a good combination and the Arkansas Razorbacks were all kinds of messy Saturday against the Florida Gators. The offense was off all night and the secondary continued its downward spiral in a 30-10 loss in Gainesville.

John Brummett, who runs the ArkansasOnline blog for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, gave his take on it:

There wasn't much positive to take away from a game where the Razorbacks failed to establish any sort of rhythm or consistency. 

Where to even begin?

QB and the Offense 

Head coach Bret Bielema needed quarterback Brandon Allen to have a good game for the Hogs to have a chance in the Swamp and he simply didn't. The sophomore went 17-of-41 (41.4 percent) with no touchdowns and a crucial interception.

The Arkansas offense actually wasn't too bad early on, scoring the game's first touchdown. There was sloppy play before that, though, with a fumble by Allen that the Gators recovered. Luckily for the Razorbacks, the defense held and blocked a 48-yard field goal attempt.

It was all downhill after that. 

Allen and the offense struggled mightily for much of the remainder of the game.

Excluding the last drive of the half, which was a kneel down, three of the offense's six drives went for five plays or less. Allen threw a crucial interception in the second quarter that was returned for a touchdown, giving the Gators a 10-7.

The pick six was a momentum changer that gave Florida a lead it didn't relinquish.

The Gators had the No. 2 ranked defense in the country coming in and looked the part. A big problem on offense for the Hogs was that they deviated from their game plan. It's understandable wanting to throw the ball around on the road to try and make some big plays, but throwing the ball a total of 43 times?

That's not what this Razorbacks team is.

They allowed the frustration of a stingy Florida defense to get to them. Bielema and the coaching staff have two All-SEC caliber backs in Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams, so naturally the way to win on the road is to give them 21 combined carries.

What a joke.

Collins got the ball 13 times for 54 yards and Williams eight for 32 and a touchdown.

Why on earth offensive coordinator Jim Chaney would throw the ball 43 times and only give it to the two best players on the team 21 times, we may never know (Case status is pending for anyone who would like to investigate this matter).

Collins and Williams each averaged four yards or more a carry. While that may not be a ton, it's very good against a Gator rush defense that gave up just 2.43 YPC.

Once it became clear Allen wasn't going to beat Florida with his arm, Arkansas should have given Collins and Williams more touches. The Razorbacks are a running team, thus passing 14 more times than running is not the formula for success.

Allen still has a lot to work on as far as timing and accuracy. Granted, the receivers dropped a ton of balls, but he struggled against a superior defense, a sign he still has a ways to go before competing with the best.

He has to show more poise and make better throws going forward. It's that simple.

The scariest takeaway wasn't the offense and their continued struggles against good defenses. It was the downward spiral of the secondary.

The Secondary 

It was a problem last year and it is still a glaring one this year. Before this week, Gators' quarterback Tyler Murphy had made one start and never completed a collegiate pass entering the year as a junior. 

There is absolutely no excuse for the secondary to give up 240 passing yards and three touchdowns to a guy that spent most of his career on the scout team. It also allowed Murphy to complete 73 percent (16-22) of his passes. 

His throws weren't for short completions either. The Hogs allowed 10.9 yards per completion—a first down every time he found a receiver. The secondary has allowed 847 yards through the air the last three games, along with eight touchdowns and just one pick.

Once the level of competition rose, the secondary didn't and it's still not showing improvements. With South Carolina next week followed by Alabama, improving the unit should be Bielema and the coaching staff's top priority. 

It's not looking like a quick fix. But, if there isn't some serious improvements in the next week, Bielema needs to up the ante and have an open competition for spots because the team needs guys who aren't going to sit 20 yards off their man.

You can watch some off the secondary's porous coverage and Allen's pick six here:

The Defense

The defensive line is good. Another solid outing makes it one of the few good takeaways from Saturday's manhandling. It allowed just 115 yards to Florida. They can thank the secondary for overshadowing that performance.

It's a tough life in the SEC and Bielema is finding that out very quickly.

He must get more consistent performances from Allen, the leader of the offense. If he's not getting it done, it makes it hard for the rest of the guys to do anything. The same goes for the defense. It matters not if the D-line is shutting down the run if the opponent can just throw it anywhere they want.

Many brutal matchups remain ahead. The Razorbacks need a good week of practice prior to hosting South Carolina or a similar fate could be in store.

Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback Brandon Allen will start in the team's upcoming SEC clash with the AP No. 10 Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday in Fayetteville.

Allen's return from a bruised right throwing shoulder gives the Razorbacks more hope to notch a monumental victory, but it will be as much about Allen capitalizing on big-play opportunities as it will be about protecting the ball.

The Razorbacks, who are 14.5-point underdogs according to TopBet, have to keep the ball away from reigning Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel and the Aggies' high-powered offense.

In order to accomplish that, it will require establishing a solid running game, which means Allen has to keep the Texas A&M defense honest when Arkansas goes aerial.

Head coach Bret Bielema tweeted the news that Allen would return under center on Friday:

There was some optimism that Allen could have returned last week for the Rutgers game, but he didn't hit the gridiron, and the Razorbacks fell to the Scarlet Knights 28-24 after blowing a 17-point lead.

Backup signal-caller AJ Derby averaged just 5.7 yards per attempt, as opposed to the 8.82 average Allen posted before exiting the team's third game of the season against Southern Miss.

Granted, Rutgers was the toughest defense Arkansas had faced all year, but Allen's reinsertion as the starter gives the Razorbacks offense more explosiveness.

The redshirt sophomore seems eager to get back out on the field in his team's Southeastern Conference opener:

Allen is 6'3" and 210 pounds with a tall presence in the pocket, a quick release and adequate mobility. He will be able to stretch the field more effectively.

The duo of Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams has to get back on track for Arkansas to have success against a Top 10 team. Those backs combined for only 3.6 yards per carry in the Rutgers game, but the Razorbacks are still 17th in the country in averaging 246 yards per game on the ground.

It helps that Allen will have the home crowd behind him, and that the Aggies defense ranks 90th in points allowed (30.3 per game) and is 106th against the run, per NCAA.com.

All of these factors work in Allen's favor, but it's up to him to take advantage of what will likely be loaded boxes and find his playmakers.

And with his skill set, Allen can.

Seasoned senior Javontee Herndon is the go-to target, but sophomore Keon Hatcher had his best showing to date with four catches for 45 yards in facing Rutgers. An X-factor to watch for is freshman tight end Hunter Henry, who caught the Razorbacks' only receiving touchdown against the Scarlet Knights.

All the pieces are in place for Allen to thrive in this contest. Allen has the arm to stretch the Aggies secondary and gives Arkansas a far better chance to pull the upset.