Arkansas Razorbacks Football

Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen is recovering from an ankle injury suffered against Ole Miss but is expected to be ready to play in whatever bowl game the Razorbacks find themselves in.

Continue for updates.

Tuesday, Dec. 3

Allen Expected to be Ready for Bowl Game

Kevin McGuire of College Football Talk has the latest on Allen:

Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema, when not spending time denying any rumors about being candidate for the Nebraska coaching job, said he feels good about his starting quarterback’s chances to be ready to go for whatever bowl game the Razorbacks will be playing in. Starting quarterback Brandon Allen is expected to be “good to go,” as Bielema put it Wednesday.

Friday, Nov. 28

Allen Takes Part in Pregame Warmups

Robbie Neiswanger of the Arkansas News Bureau has an update on Allen's status ahead of Friday's game:

Wednesday, Nov. 26

Allen Returns to Practice, Condition Improving

Bleacher Reports Barrett Sallee has an update on Allen's progress, from head coach Brett Bielema:

David Paschal of the Chattanooga Times Free Press has more from Bielema: 

Bret Bielema says if quarterback Brandon Allen keeps improving that he will be good to go Friday. That would be good news for #UGA.

— David Paschall (@DavidSPaschall) November 26, 2014

Saturday, Nov. 22

Allen Injures Ankle

Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen left Saturday's game against Mississippi after 10 pass attempts and was ruled out for the remainder of the contest.    

According to head coach Bret Bielema, via ESPN's Brett McMurphy, Allen has a soft tissue injury after taking a hit to the hip:

Allen did have a touchdown pass before leaving the game and has been efficient for the Razorbacks, who are showing signs of life after their first SEC win of the year against LSU last week. 

"The waiting is the hardest part."

They didn't know it at the time, but Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' classic 1981 song could be specifically used to describe the Arkansas football program.

Arkansas is winless in the SEC this year (0-5), lost all eight of its conference contests last season—head coach Bret Bielema's first in Fayetteville—and lost four straight SEC games to close out former head coach John L. Smith's one and only campaign in 2012.

Arkansas' 49-7 win over Kentucky on Oct. 13, 2012 was the last time the Hogs were victorious in conference play, and as Aaron Torres of FoxSports.com notes, quite a bit has happened since then, including Tim Tebow playing for two NFL teams.

Bielema knows that this week's game against LSU in Fayetteville is the perfect chance for his Hogs to get off the schneid.

"We're owning a streak here of losses that unfortunately is long," Bielema said on Wednesday's teleconference. "The part for me that's really been fun is that we are right there knocking on the door. We're going to break through it. I don't know if it's going to be this weekend, or next, or the week after, or when it's going to be."

Saturday's matchup with the Tigers is the perfect time for Bielema's crew to break through that glass ceiling.

The Hogs are fresh off a bye week after taking No. 1 Mississippi State to the edge of disaster two weeks ago in a 17-10 loss. In that game, Razorback Brandon Allen was picked off by Will Redmond in the end zone with 15 seconds to play. It was Arkansas' third SEC loss this season that was decided by one score or less—all of which have come against ranked opponents (No. 24 Texas A&M, No. 5 Alabama and No. 1 Mississippi State).

Bielema and his staff have turned those heartbreaking losses into positives. 

"Sometimes your greatest blessings come in the disguise of failure," he said.

His Hogs are catching LSU at the right time.

The Tigers are fresh off a heartbreaking defeat of their own—a 20-13 loss to visiting Alabama last Saturday night in Death Valley. Quarterback Anthony Jennings hasn't completed more than 50 percent of his passes in any game since Sept. 13 when he completed 61.1 percent (11-of-18) in a 31-0 win over Louisiana-Monroe. The running back depth LSU has enjoyed all season has taken a hit this week, with senior Kenny Hilliard's status uncertain for the showdown in Fayetteville.

"Kenny got a little practice time today," Miles told Gannett Louisiana's Glenn Guilbeau after practice on Wednesday. "But I'm not certain he's slated for duty. He's day to day."

With forecast calling for snow on Saturday night, the combination of a "Bama hangover" for LSU and an inconsistent offense have LSU ripe for the picking.

Arkansas is fresh, at home, has the heaviest offensive line in college football and also has a "weatherproof" offense that will lean on the Tigers defense.

"Offensively, one of the reasons we go with this kind of offense is that it can play in all weather," Bielema said on Wednesday's teleconference. "It can play dry in 100-plus degrees and can play wet in freezing temperatures."

The folks in Las Vegas seem to like the Hogs. Arkansas opened as a 1.5-point favorite over the 17th-ranked Tigers and have since moved up to two-point favorites, according to OddsShark.com. Those hotels weren't built by making bad lines.

Vegas knows Arkansas is on the brink of breaking through and LSU is vulnerable. The Hogs will do so in a big way in chilly Fayetteville on Saturday night.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a co-host of the CFB Hangover on Bleacher Report Radio (Sundays, 9-11 a.m. ET) on Sirius 93, XM 208.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of CFBStats.com, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.

A week ago, it appeared that Arkansas had turned a corner —or was about to—in the SEC West.

The Razorbacks pushed No. 7 Alabama to the absolute brink in a 14-13 defeat, which came only two weeks after they dropped a 35-28 overtime decision to Texas A&M that saw them blow a two-touchdown fourth-quarter lead. 

It was only a matter of time before they broke through and, at the very least, won an SEC game. Right?

But following Saturday’s 45-32 loss to No. 10 Georgia (in which the Bulldogs built a 32-point lead before a late rally), it’s fair to wonder: Will Arkansas win an SEC game this season?

The Razorbacks’ last SEC victory came on Oct. 13, 2012, a 49-7 win over Kentucky with interim coach John L. Smith at the helm.

Saturday’s defeat extended that string to 17 games, which will only enhance the pressure on second-year head coach Bret Bielema.

Arkansas has four SEC games remaining, with two of them against teams currently in the Top Three nationally (No. 1 Mississippi State and No. 3 Ole Miss).

Bielema’s team was competitive against both teams a year ago, dropping a 34-24 decision to Ole Miss and a 24-17 overtime loss to the Bulldogs.

The Rebels’ trip to Arkansas comes a week before what could be a titanic Egg Bowl showdown with Mississippi State that might have SEC title and College Football Playoff implications, and Ole Miss will surely be on upset alert in Fayetteville.

But it’s difficult to expect Bielema’s bunch to give either team a serious push.

That leaves two opportunities: Nov. 15 vs. LSU in Fayetteville and Nov. 28 at Missouri.

A year ago, Arkansas led a good LSU team 27-24 in Baton Rouge with one minute, 15 seconds remaining and the Tigers pinned inside their own 1-yard line. But backup quarterback Anthony Jennings led a 99-yard drive capped by a 49-yard touchdown pass to Travin Dural for a 31-27 win.

The Tigers have taken a step back this season and are clearly the fifth- to sixth-best team in the SEC West. And this time, they’re coming to Razorback Stadium.

If Arkansas can get its potent ground game going against LSU’s defense and harass Jennings, there’s a decent chance the SEC losing streak could end there.

If not, it falls to a Black Friday regular-season finale at Missouri. The border rivals have not met since the 2008 Cotton Bowl, a 38-7 Mizzou win, and this game could carry particular meaning for Bielema.

The Tigers do not look like the same team that won the SEC East a year ago, losing to Big Ten doormat Indiana and suffering an ugly 34-0 defeat at Georgia’s hands. Sophomore quarterback Maty Mauk entered the Florida game with 14 touchdowns against eight interceptions, throwing four picks against the Bulldogs.

But Mizzou will not be an easy out at Faurot Field, especially if the Tigers are playing for postseason positioning.

If Bielema ends 2014 winless in SEC play, the program’s SEC losing streak will stand at 20 games entering 2015. In the nation’s most competitive division, that’s a difficult stat to stomach.

While it stands to reason that he’ll get a third season, if Arkansas finishes this season without any league success, the pressure on Bielema entering 2015 will be white-hot.

In August, not many people had Arkansas vs. Texas A&M at AT&T Stadium penciled in as one of the top matchups of Week 5. After Texas A&M stomped South Carolina on opening night and Arkansas rushed to a 3-1 record with a win at Texas Tech, though, the former Southwest Conference rivalry takes on a whole new meaning.

Is Texas A&M for real?

After that South Carolina win, the Aggies have sort of flown under the radar, beating up on cupcakes Rice, Lamar and SMU over the last three weeks.

What can Arkansas do this weekend in Jerry World to derail Texas A&M's dream season?

Come Right at Them

While the world gushes over new Texas A&M quarterback Kenny Hill, the real reason Texas A&M has become more of a contender than imagined over the first month of the season is a defense that, suddenly, looks fundamentally sound for the first time in head coach Kevin Sumlin's career in College Station.

Is it real, though?

The defense held Mike Davis and the vaunted South Carolina rushing attack to just 67 yards on the ground, but Davis was out, in and back out of the lineup that night in Columbia, South Carolina.

Arkansas can do what South Carolina planned to do, and do it better.

The Hogs' three-headed rushing attack featuring Alex Collins, Jonathan Williams and Korliss Marshall is punishing, deep and diverse. Collins' 490 rushing yards leads the SEC, Williams' seven rushing touchdowns leads the SEC and Marshall is a threat to take it to the house from just about anywhere on the field.

"They’re awfully good," defensive coordinator Mark Snyder said in quotes released by Texas A&M. "[Head coach] Bret [Bielema] knows what he’s doing. I spent 10 years in the Big Ten going against [former Wisconsin] coach [Barry] Alvarez, that’s where he got it from. We’ve got to build a wall and stop them."

A big reason Arkansas' offense has been so successful has been an offensive line that rivals most NFL teams in terms of size. The Hogs average 328.4 pounds in the trenches, which will present a big-time challenge to the Aggies' front seven.

"I saw a stat the other day in their press release where if their offensive line was in the NFL they’d be biggest in the league," head coach Kevin Sumlin said in quotes released by Texas A&M. "They are big guys. They run behind them and they create a lot of problems for you from a passing standpoint."

Arkansas' line is fundamentally sound, and its running backs are very patient and quick when the holes come open. That's going to put a ton of pressure on Texas A&M's linebackers Donnie Baggs, Jordan Mastrogiovanni and Justin Bass to fit in the right gaps, get off blocks and prevent those running backs from breaking big plays.

The Hogs lead the SEC in rushing plays of 20 or more yards (five). If Arkansas can force those fundamentals to go out the window, it will go a long way toward Bielema's crew springing the upset.

Get to Kenny Hill

Texas A&M's offensive line is no joke, but Arkansas can get after the quarterback itself.

The Hogs have eight sacks on the season and notched 26 tackles for loss. Hill—a true sophomore from Southlake, Texas in the Dallas suburbs—has looked incredibly polished through four games.

What if he gets pressure in his face, though? 

After all, he's still a relatively inexperienced quarterback in a big environment near his hometown, and Arkansas' front four—led by reigning SEC defensive lineman of the week Trey Flowers—is no slouch.

South Carolina's pass rush is more myth than reality these days—as its head coach Steve Spurrier so eloquently noted when asked about his team.

Lamar, Rice and SMU don't do a whole lot to instill fear in a quarterback, either.

This is the toughest challenge of Hill's career as the starting quarterback, and if Arkansas can force Hill into a mistake or two, it will help turn this into more of an "Arkansas-style" game and keep the ball out of Hill's hands.

"Time of possession, as long as you score, is a big factor," said running backs coach Joel Thomas in quotes emailed by Arkansas. "We have to make sure we make the most out of the time that we do have."

More time for Arkansas means Hill and the rest of that talented Aggies offense will spend more time on the bench, which is right where Bielema wants them.

Protect Brandon Allen

While Arkansas' three-headed rushing attack has dominated headlines, all quarterback Brandon Allen has done is quietly go about his business and do exactly what any quarterback for Bielema is asked to do. 

"He's been extremely efficient throwing the football, Sumlin said during Wednesday's coaches teleconference. "When people have tried to load up and get eight, nine, 10 and sometimes even 11 involved at the line of scrimmage, Brandon Allen has been extremely accurate and has hit the deep ball."

He's right.

Allen has tossed eight touchdowns and only one pick through four games, and he has only been sacked once. Something's gotta give, because Texas A&M leads the SEC with 16 sacks.

Arkansas isn't going to get too creative. The Hogs are a run-first team, which will limit Texas A&M's strength thus far on defense. When the Hogs do get into passing situations, though, they have to make sure Allen has time to keep those chains moving. 

If he does, Arkansas is absolutely capable of springing the upset.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a co-host of the CFB Hangover on Bleacher Report Radio (Sundays, 9-11 a.m. ET) on Sirius 93, XM 208.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of cfbstats.com, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.

Arkansas continues to piece together the foundation for a formidable passing attack during the 2015 recruiting cycle. That effort was bolstered Tuesday morning when coveted tight end prospect Will Gragg  pledged to the Razorbacks:

The 6'4", 245-pound Dumas High School playmaker opted to stay in his home state after weighing offers from several SEC squads. Gragg, rated eighth nationally among tight ends in 247Sports' composite rankings, was heavily pursued by the likes of LSU, Alabama and Ole Miss.

His older brother, Chris, suited up for the Razorbacks in college and is now a member of the Buffalo Bills. A well-established relationship with the program helped set the stage for his announcement.

"Arkansas has been on me since the ninth grade," Gragg told Otis Kirk of 247Sports.com.

Rated second among 2015 Arkansas recruits, he emerged as a must-have for head coach Bret Bielema. The Razorbacks are aiming to fend off conference foes in the fight for in-state talent, and this commitment provides positive momentum in that department.

Gragg led Pine Bluff High School in receiving as a junior before his transfer, catching 31 passes for 321 yards and five touchdowns, per Hootens.com. He collected six receptions for 88 yards and two scores last Friday with coaches from LSU, Ole Miss and Texas in attendance, according to 247Sports.com.

His skill set was on full display this summer at The Opening, an invite-only high school football showcase held at Nike's world headquarters in Oregon. Gragg flashed quickness and precision as a route-runner, routinely beating top-tier defenders to the football downfield.

"I want to be a balanced tight end who can make big plays at different parts of the field," Gragg said at The Opening. "I've been working on my game to get ready for what's coming. I think there's been a lot of improvement."

He provides Arkansas with a promising pass target who carries potential for an early impact. Given his physique and fundamental polish, Gragg should contend for significant playing time as a true freshman in Fayetteville.

The Razorbacks gain an athletic specimen who brings balance to the position. When at his best, Gragg is a devastating blocker who can create rushing lanes along the outside edge and take on linebackers at the second level.

He adds to a stockpile of offensive talent set to arrive at Arkansas next season. Top-rated in-state prospect K.J. Hill is a dynamic wide receiver who chose the Razorbacks over Alabama, Florida and Notre Dame.

He and Gragg have formed a friendship and could form a dangerous duo for years to come. 

Their pairing is great news for Ty Storey, a 4-star quarterback who committed to Arkansas last summer. He threw for 4,200 yards and 52 touchdown passes last season.

The Razorbacks are particularly deep at tight end, holding commitments from four potential players at the position. Jamario Bell may be best-suited for defensive end, while Austin Cantrell and C.J. O'Grady could opt to explore options elsewhere.

A June commitment from Texas running back Rawleigh Williams III and multiple reinforcements on the offensive line make this a recruiting class that could rapidly reshape the identity of a Razorbacks offense searching for additional explosiveness. The group now rates 19th nationally in 247Sports' composite team rankings.

Bielema is fortifying his team with homegrown talent, and Gragg gives him one of the best available this year.

Recruit ratings courtesy of 247Sports.

Quotes obtained firsthand by B/R national recruiting analyst Tyler Donohue unless otherwise noted.

Follow @TDsTake

You don't take an offense that likes to spread things out and chuck the ball around and turn it into one that slows things down, pounds the rock and maintains possession and expect it to be ready to compete in the SEC.

The experiment began for Bret Bielema and the Arkansas Razorbacks in 2013 and as expected, the results weren't pretty. After opening last season with three straight victories, Arkansas lost its final nine games and eclipsed the 30-point mark just once, in a defeat to Texas A&M.

Fast-forward to the present day and Bielema's philosophy is starting to produce results. After a season-opening 45-21 loss at Auburn, the Razorbacks beat Nicholls State, 73-7, and followed it up with a 49-28 victory over Texas Tech on Saturday.

Against Nicholls State, starting quarterback Brandon Allen had just 117 yards passing, but the rushing attack, led by the two-headed monster of Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams, put up 495 yards. That would be impressive against a pile of sofa cushions let alone an actual football team.

Allen didn't need to do much more in the win over Kliff Kingsbury's Red Raiders either, throwing for just 61 yards. Collins and Williams, however, combined to rush for 357 yards and six scores on 49 carries.

No one will mistake the Red Raiders' defense for the one Alabama brings to the table, but being able to pile up big yards on the road against a power-five opponent is impressive in itself. And when going up against teams with more talent, the Razorbacks will need to find a similar rhythm to stay close and pull off upsets.

Doing this on the road against Texas Tech is one thing, and following it up with the same type of effort on Sept. 20 against Northern Illinois will be another. But following the tilt with the Huskies will be a three-game stretch at home that could become a defining period in Bielema's tenure.

Texas A&M, Alabama and Georgia all come calling in the span of four weeks. One win should make fans happy, but two or three would make a major national statement.

With the offensive shift in college football toward a more up-tempo style that disregards time of possession and spreads things out both through the air and on the ground, it seemed crazy to think that Bielema could take a team without a wealth of talent and turn it into a contender in the best conference in college football using a physical, run-first brand of offense.

But that's exactly what's happening here, and it's time to give credit where it's due.

Given the talent in the trenches throughout the conference, being able to pass the ball is a must, and Allen will likely have to develop into a threat at some point, even if he doesn't transform into Ryan Mallett overnight. He probably isn't the next Russell Wilson, either, but he can learn a thing or two about how the former Badger ran Bielema's offense at Wisconsin.

In Wilson's only season as a Badger, he threw for over 3,100 yards and had 33 passing touchdowns. The biggest thing Allen can learn from, however, is Wilson's efficiency. He had just four interceptions and completed nearly 73 percent of his passes, and it's that ability to limit mistakes that could be huge when opposing defenses start stacking the box and forcing someone other than a running back to beat them.

But with those two backs averaging over six yards per carry behind an experienced offensive line, the Razorbacks finally appear ready for the grueling SEC slate that lies ahead.

The question now becomes, is the offense ready to simply compete, or can it score enough points to knock off a conference heavyweight or two? What happens in a close game late in the fourth quarter? Will Bielema's offense be able to throw the ball or can the rushing attack remain effective with the clock winding down?

Those questions have yet to be answered, but fans should be more confident in this group than they've been in quite some time. The offense now finally looks capable of scoring points against some of the best programs in the country.

A short time ago, Arkansas didn't seem capable of doing that against anybody. In fact, you have to go back a long, long time to find the program's last win against an FBS program.

In order to keep piling up those wins, the defense will have to do its part, too. Stopping Auburn isn't easy, but you can't allow 45 points as the Razorbacks did in Week 1 and expect to win. Neither side of the ball playing well is what leads to seasons like 2013.

In today's world, you're either a contender in your conference or your not. Arkansas still falls into the latter category, but with a strong rushing game and a real identity for the first time in several years, the Razorbacks will likely play a major role in the SEC race, even if they aren't in the hunt themselves.

That's all due to an offense that is much improved from 2013. The scary part? If this is Bielema's program in year two, how good will things be in year three or four?

Saturday's loss at Auburn wasn't exactly what Arkansas bargained for when it hired Bret Bielema. At Wisconsin, Bielema's teams didn't just hang tough for two quarters; they hung tough for two quarters, then won.

Regardless, even in a 45-21 defeat, Arkansas played the defending SEC champion and national runner-up to a draw after 30 minutes, and in the process it showed something it didn't in Bielema's first season with the team: a genuine pulse.

The Razorbacks did not crumble to the pavement after Auburn's first haymaker, a 49-yard touchdown strike from Jeremy Johnson to Melvin Ray. They didn't fold after falling back 21-7 early in the second quarter. They scrapped and they clawed and they fought back into the game, and even though it didn't hold, it spoke volumes.

The biggest reason for that improvement? It has to be the play of quarterback Brandon Allen. As a sophomore last season, Allen was up and down (but mostly down), in large part because of injuries. But he came back looking stronger and more confident than ever, finishing with 175 yards and two touchdowns on 31 passes.

He did throw a pick-six that essentially sealed the game in the fourth quarter, but before that, Allen was even better than his numbers. If not for an ugly drop by Keon Hatcher on a should-have-been-70-yard-touchdown in the first quarter, his final line would have read even finer (and the score might have been much different).

Greg McElroy of the SEC Network came away impressed with Allen's performance—regardless of the final outcome:

Bielema never had (or needed) a dominant quarterback at Wisconsin. What he had (and needed) were efficient ones.

Russell Wilson broke the NCAA's single-season passing efficiency record (191.8) under Bielema in 2011, and he did it in a season where the Badgers rushed almost twice as many times as they passed. The ideal Bielema offense leans on running the ball, then running the ball, then running the ball—then making you pay for expecting the run.

That system broke down a little bit in the second half, and it's hard to tell exactly why. It might have been fatigue, and it might have been a schematic adjustment by Auburn. It might have been a little bit of both. The lightning delay in the fourth quarter definitely did not help (although the game had slipped away long before that).

Still, for at least 30 minutes, Arkansas did to the SEC Champion what Wisconsin did for so many years to teams in the Big Ten. The offensive line had its way with Auburn's front seven, and Alex Collins, Jonathan Williams and Korliss Marshall ran with grit. When Auburn came up to cheat on the run, Allen hit it over the top.

The defensive line looked very good, also. Against what might be the best offensive line in college football, Arkansas held its own. The defense as a whole looked overmatched, but Auburn's offense will make a lot of defenses look that way this season. Whether it's Johnson or Nick Marshall at quarterback—it doesn't matter either way.

With such a difficult schedule this season, it is still unlikely that Arkansas makes a bowl game. But that's not how it should measure its success. Going 6-6 will be difficult, but finishing below .500 would not mean Bielema has made no progress.

This team is slowly starting to mold in his image, and the results down on the Plains—at least for 30 minutes—were assuring. This team can't beat any opponent in the country; but it can hang with them.

"We had two quarters we can live with and two quarters that we can't," said Bielema after the game, per Phil Buck of KTHV in Little Rock. And that seems like a pretty fair assessment.

But on the heels of a season where less than 50 percent of the quarters were good ones…well, two-out-of-four ain't so bad.

It wasn't supposed to be this way for Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema.

Bielema made the jump from Wisconsin of the Big Ten to the SEC's Arkansas Razorbacks prior to the 2013 season, with three straight Big Ten titles and three straight Rose Bowl appearances under his belt.

The "three" theme continued early in 2013, as the Hogs won three straight to start the season on the heels of three straight 100-yard rushing performances from then-true freshman running back Alex Collins—who just so happens to wear No. 3.

Then the wheels came off.

The Hogs lost nine straight games to close the season, and they finished 0-8 in the SEC for the first time in program history.

Quite a change from Bielema's dominance of the Big Ten.

"The part that jumps out to me is the week-to-week grind," Bielema said. "Certain coaches were hacked off about the SEC only having eight conference games. Well I'd love to see them come try those eight. There's just nothing like it in the world of college football."

The big change Bielema noticed in his inaugural campaign in the SEC was up front on defense, where teams rotated members of the front four often to keep bodies fresh to combat his power rushing attack with Collins and rising junior Jonathan Williams.

"Specifically, the power, the speed and the depth in the defensive linemen was very impressive," Bielema said.

Bielema found that out the hard way last year.

His quarterback Brandon Allen hurt his shoulder diving into the end zone for a touchdown against Southern Miss in the third game of the season. Allen sat out the next game—a loss at Rutgers—and struggled to stay healthy because of the constant barrage of big men.

"Obviously I can't go into great detail, but there were about four or five straight weeks where he wan't able to practice and not really doing anything except walkthroughs and play on Saturdays," Bielema said. "That's a true testament to his character and what he's all about."

The ability to keep those big, athletic bodies fresh is obviously a huge advantage for SEC teams, especially during the season and when that grind starts to take a toll. But it's not just about the defense.

Last year was a banner year for the SEC in the quarterback department, with Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel taking snaps at Texas A&M, highly decorated senior AJ McCarron at Alabama and record-setting signal-caller Aaron Murray at Georgia, among others. 

That, coupled with his quarterback's struggle to stay healthy, created a perfect storm that contributed to the rough road in Year 1.

"Every league is quarterback-driven," Bielema said. "In this league in particular, if you have a guy who knows the league, knows how to manage the game, get you out of some difficult situations and not put you in bad ones, it will work very well."

Off the field, one change was welcomed by Bielema with open arms.

The ability to hire and retain a staff at Arkansas was a big selling point for the former Wisconsin head coach, and even though he lost some assistants between his first and second campaign in Fayetteville, the possibility to hire top-notch assistants separates the SEC.

"It was the No. 1 reason for leaving Wisconsin," Bielema said. "I just didn't have the support financially to get it done. They've changed a bit now, but it's just the world of college football. The SEC, in general, sort of sets the standard for what goes on around the world of college football and it's fun to be a part of it."

As for this year, Bielema has some pieces in place to make a surprise turnaround if the Hogs stay healthy. 

Collins and Williams are back at running back, and the emergence of sophomore speedster Korliss Marshall as a home run threat will give the coaching staff the ability to produce a multi-dimensional rushing attack even if the passing game struggles in 2014.

The deep stable of running backs presents a "rich man's problem" for Bielema. Luckily for him, balancing three running backs is something he experienced quite a bit at Wisconsin, including the 2010 season when James White and John Clay broke the 1,000-yard mark and Montee Ball added 996 of his own.

The ability to manage carries and, perhaps more importantly, egos, will be a huge benefit to this Hogs team.

"It's not a 'me, me, me' game, it's a 'we, we, we' game," Bielema said. "Those guys know that, when they tapped their helmets to come out, the next play could go the distance and they want to make sure the fresh guy is in there. The more I can help build a selfless attitude and help the guys understand that it's a team trying to win a game play by play and person by person."

Defensively, the Hogs lost defensive end Chris Smith and defensive coordinator Chris Ash left his post to take a job at Ohio State. In Ash's place is Robb Smith, who will have the luxury of having some quality pieces along the defensive line, including Trey Flowers and Darius Philon.

The overwhelming theme for this year's Hogs defense is simplifying the defense and building a unit that generates pressure with four linemen and allows the secondary—which is long on experience but short on production—to take advantage.

"Robb Smith brings a simplicity," Bielema said. "He has a background in both the NFL and college football. Our defense is going to play a lot more aggressively at the line of scrimmage and get after the quarterback. I'm very, very excited about him."

Year 1 didn't go according to Bielema's plan, but now he knows what to expect in the SEC and is working to implement changes that could get the Hogs program back on the right track. That needs to happen in a hurry, because Year 3 is looming in 2015, and it could be an important one for Bielema in Fayetteville.

After all, it is the magic number.

* Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer for Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained firsthand, all stats are courtesy of CFBStats.com and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports.com.

Follow @BarrettSallee