Brandon Allen
Arkansas' oft-hated (at least here in his home state) Brandon Allen has emerged as arguably the top quarterback in the SEC ... at least if you're basing that standard on performance rather than hype.
as of this posting, Allen has thrown for 2,617 yards and 22 touchdowns (to just 6 interceptions) while completing 64.4% of his attempts. he's the #1-rated passer (163.8 QBR) and he doesn't take sacks (only 11 on the year).
additionally, he's putting up those numbers by taking deep shots down the field, not dinking and dunking on horizontal throws, as verified by his SEC-leading yards-per-pass attempt (9.22). he's not bad when plays break down, either, as he has shown "surprising" athleticism when scrambling.
after struggling to play well late in games early in the season, he has emerged as
CLUTCH when the game is on the line, and the numbers bear this out. Allen was named the National Offensive PoW after his record-setting performance in the two-overtime thriller at Ole Miss.
what'd he do to earn the award? check it:
- 6 touchdown passes (Arkansas single-game record, second-most by an SEC qb in league play)
- 442 passing yards, 2nd all-time at Arkansas and most by an SEC qb this year
- threw his third overtime touchdown of the season (most in FBS) and then ran in the game-winning two-point conversion
- 33 completions (Arkansas single-game record)
he's the only SEC quarterback to have two 400-plus yard passing games this year.
in fact, only two other quarterbacks in the conference are even (legitimately) in the mix for comparison: Chad Kelly (Ole Miss) and Dak Prescott (Mississippi State). compare the numbers:
Allen:
163.80 QBR, 64.4 comp%, 22 ptds, 06 ints, 2617 pyds,
9.22 ypa,
11 sacks
Kelly: 155.05 QBR,
65.5 comp%,
23 ptds, 12 ints,
3224 pyds, 8.93 ypa, 15 sacks
Prescott:145.80 QBR, 64.7 comp%, 18 ptds,
02 ints, 2651 pyds, 7.73 ypa, 22 sacks
yet, despite these outstanding numbers, i've NEVER heard him discussed by the so-called "experts" on the various national sports talking head shows. "weird," huh?
