FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback Austin Allen is getting closer to making his return to game action, but it might not be Saturday at Ole Miss.
"I would check mark the box of 'highly questionable,' " Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said on Wednesday's SEC teleconference regarding Allen's status for Saturday. "He's making progress. I think he could get there.
"The question would be whether or not he's at risk to injure it any further or aggravate it again, and be able to make all the throws he needs to make if he's our starting quarterback."
Allen, a senior captain from Fayetteville, worked the 7-on-7 passing periods and the one-on-one drills during Tuesday's practice and suffered no setbacks by Wednesday morning, Bielema said.
"Yesterday, by far, was his biggest workload since the injury ... and today we'll plan on moving him into team periods and seeing exactly what he does.
"That's kind of just what we're monitoring, is to make sure he's constantly moving forward. Of course he wants to get out there as soon as possible. But you also have to measure the fact that he's doing it without regression."
Allen has been out since the third quarter of Arkansas' 48-22 loss at South Carolina on Oct. 7. Freshman Cole Kelley has completed 46 of 81 passes for 503 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions since the fourth quarter at South Carolina. Kelley went 38 of 68 for 363 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception while starting in losses at No. 1 Alabama and against No. 21 Auburn the past two weeks.
Positive x 4
Senior cornerback Henre Toliver said there are many players on the team pushing a positive attitude with the Razorbacks slumping at 2-5 after three consecutive losses by 26 or more points.
"We just have to come together as a team," Toliver said. "We have to do our job. We're obviously in a hole right now, and we've got to get out of there and get a W. That's really the mindset of our team.
"People are trying to be more vocal and keep guys uplifted. Positive, positive, positive, positive. We've got this, we've got this. We've got to get out of this hole. We've got to get out of this funk."
Taking the third
The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville has been outscored in every quarter this season, but the margin is small in the first (44-41) and the second (55-52) quarters and not out of hand in the fourth quarter, with a 78-61 disadvantage.
The third quarter is the one that is the sorest spot. Opponents have outscored Arkansas 66-38 in that quarter, including a 28-point outburst by Auburn last week and a 17-0 blanking at South Carolina on Oct. 7.
Coach Bret Bielema was asked about the poor second halves since November during Wednesday's SEC teleconference.
"You know, if I knew that answer I probably would have had it six or seven games ago," Bielema said. "We're doing different things. Sometimes it could be ... some mental breakdowns, mistakes or miscues. Sometimes it's been ball security.
"What we've really addressed and made our guys understand ... is the mental aspect of playing for 60 minutes. We've doing everything we can, throwing everything at them mentally and physically, and hopefully we'll come out on top this weekend."
Linebackers coach Vernon Hargreaves said the coaching staff has gotten feedback from players and held plenty of discussions as a staff in trying to ID the problems.
"We've explored every reason that it could be," he said. "We've talked to the kids, and we're looking at ourselves and trying to figure out what we can do different. It'll be an ongoing deal, and we'll see if we get any answers."
Bret target
Tommy Tuberville, the former head coach at Ole Miss and Auburn, said Wednesday he once tried to hire Bret Bielema.
"Bret Bielema is a good friend of mine," Tuberville said at the Northwest Arkansas Touchdown Club. "I tried to hire him at Auburn as my defensive coordinator years ago."
Bielema was an up-and-coming defensive coordinator at Wisconsin at the time and was soon named coach-in-waiting for Barry Alvarez.
Tuberville, an ESPN analyst, said after his talk to the club he had to fly back to Destin, Fla., to leave out today for the Wisconsin at Illinois game he is calling this weekend and would not be able to swing by the Arkansas coaching offices.
"They don't need me around over there," he said. "They've got ... he's got to win games. He's got one he can win this week, and I'm sure they're doing everything they can."
The Camden native also said the Razorbacks should always keep a home football game in Little Rock.
"It's huge," Tuberville said after his talk. "Everybody's got their own opinion, but you're talking to a guy who probably wouldn't be standing here if it wasn't for the Razorbacks playing some games there every year."
Tuberville told the audience he cried after the Razorbacks lost the 1969 Big Shootout game to Texas, and that his father took him to games in Little Rock.
"I think it's very important to keep some kind of relationship in Little Rock," he said. "There's got to be some give and take. It can't be about the money. You can't put a price tag on people's support all over the state.
"A lot of young kids growing up, they're not going to know the Razorbacks as well if they don't have that presence in Little Rock. I do think they have to do something to the stadium. It's been a long time. They've got to put some touches to it, and it's got to be a home-field advantage."
Open space
Arkansas defensive line coach John Scott said the Razorbacks cannot afford a repeat of the missed tackles that hurt them against Auburn.
"I think that's going to be a big deal," Scott said. "Any time you play defense, you've got to be a great tackler, especially the way offenses put you in space and create space with formations and stuff like that. So we've got to be improved with our tackling."
Tough slate
Arkansas' four SEC losses have come against teams with a combined record of 31-6 and a winning percentage of .838.
Alabama (8-0) and TCU (7-0) are undefeated and ranked Nos. 1 and 4, respectively. Auburn is 6-2, while South Carolina and Texas A&M are each 5-2.
Arkansas and Vanderbilt are the only teams in the country to play two teams in the current top four of The Associated Press Top 25. Vanderbilt has losses to No. 1 Alabama (59-0) and No. 3 Georgia (45-14).
Oxford weather
Razorbacks fans will want to pack coats for the road game in Oxford, Miss. The high on Saturday is projected as 51 degrees after an overnight low of 33 degrees, per weather.com. The overnight low Saturday is projected as 29 degrees. The same cold front that is swooping down into Arkansas will continue across the Delta and into northern Mississippi.
Sports on 10/26/2017