Hog Calls

Lunney understands Allen's situation

Barry Lunney, Jr., Arkansas tight end coach, speaks to the media prior to the George Billingsley NWA Razorback Club Celebrity Scramble golf tournament at the Kingsdale Golf Complex in Bella Vista on Friday, July 25, 2014.
Barry Lunney, Jr., Arkansas tight end coach, speaks to the media prior to the George Billingsley NWA Razorback Club Celebrity Scramble golf tournament at the Kingsdale Golf Complex in Bella Vista on Friday, July 25, 2014.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Barry Lunney Jr. hopes one day Brandon Allen gets to experience the same kinder, gentler interactions with fans that Lunney experiences now.

"Now people come up to me and say, 'I remember when you beat Tennessee' or 'I remember when you threw that pass to beat Alabama,' " said Lunney, the former Arkansas quarterback who is in his second season as the Razorbacks' tight end coach under Bret Bielema.

Lunney served as Arkansas' starting quarterback for all but one game from midseason 1992 through 1995. Other than the big 1992 upset over Tennessee, Lunney didn't hear much good in those days with Arkansas going 3-7-1, 5-5-1 and 4-7 from 1992 through 1994.

Fans so clamored for change that Coach Danny Ford started sophomore Robert Reed in the 1995 season-opening loss to SMU, which Lunney nearly salvaged after coming off the bench.

Reed quit the team, and Lunney quarterbacked Arkansas to its first SEC West championship and its first victory over Alabama.

Now many clamor for Allen's ouster after Arkansas went 3-9 in 2013.

The Lunney-Allen similarities reflect like a mirror.

Both Lunney, originally from Fort Smith, and Allen, from Fayetteville, have experienced Arkansas acclaim and blame as Arkansans quarterbacking Arkansas.

Both are coaches' sons. Both lettered first under interim coaches who replaced the fired coaches who recruited them, then as sophomores started for entirely new head coaches. As sophomores, both played despite suffering throwing shoulder injuries that required rest and limited significant practices to one per week

"It was a vicious cycle," Lunney said of missing the practices needed to improve.

Meanwhile, criticism mounted.

"You just have to block all that out, and that's whether you are going good or bad," Lunney said. "All you can do is put your axe to the grind and get better."

Allen improves and so does the team, Arkansas' coaches say.

"All of our football team is going to improve in a lot of areas, and because of that you are going to see him play better," Lunney said. "And because he is going to play better, we are going to play better."

Allen has the publicly vocal support of his head coach that Lunney lacked.

Lunney praised Ford for toughening the program but said it was tough to play quarterback for him. Lunney said he always felt like he was a play away from being yanked until Reed departed.

Reuniting with his old Razorbacks at lunch a couple of years back, Ford apologized to Lunney before the whole group.

"I was shocked," Lunney said. "You could tell it obviously kind of weighed on him a little bit. I think he saw how relaxed I played [in 1995] and that I had my best year.

"I really like that Coach [Bielema] has made no bones about the fact that Brandon is our quarterback. We know he is our guy, and we are looking forward to seeing the fruits of his improvement."

Allen appreciates the advice imparted from one Arkansan quarterback to another.

"He really instilled how he got through it and how he went about his business," Allen said. "That was big for me to be able to talk to him about that."

Sports on 08/09/2014

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