Kelley gives Razorbacks huge option

Published 7:00 pm Thursday, November 9, 2017

Arkansas coach Bret Bielema is playing coy with his quarterback situation this week.

Just who he’s playing is another matter — the best-kept secret in the Ozarks.

Hidden behind Door No. 1 is last year’s starter, Austin Allen. Hidden (barely) behind Door No. 2 is redshirt freshman Cole Kelley.

But the charade won’t last for long Saturday morning when one of them takes the field against LSU. 

Even with an 11 a.m. kickoff, the Tigers (6-3, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) shouldn’t have to wipe the sleep from their eyes to figure who is who.

It only seems like Allen has been at Arkansas forever — he inherited the starting job last year from his brother, Brandon, a three-year Razorbacks starter who’s now with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Allen is 6-foot-1, 215 pounds, about average among your varsity college quarterbacks.

If it’s not him, LSU will recognize it quickly.

The other option is Kelley and … well, LSU linebacker Devin White knows him — or at least met him on a recruiting visit to Fayetteville when both were high school seniors.

“I couldn’t believe he was a quarterback,” White said. “Nice guy. But I’m like, really, a quarterback? C’mon, man.”

The oddity, at least for his position, is that Kelley, a Lafayette native from Teurlings Catholic, stands 6-7 and weighs 270 pounds. That’s freak of nature for a quarterback.

He’s started the Razorbacks’ last four games after a shoulder injury to Allen, who threw for 210 yards against LSU last year in Fayetteville while the Tigers were running roughshod to a 38-10 victory.

Allen is healthy again and practicing this week. But Bielema is not tipping his hand.

LSU knows him. With Kelley, who according to the Arkansas web site was not recruited by the Tigers, they got their first up-close look this week.

“I just got done watching some film on him,” LSU nose guard Greg Gilmore said. “That’s some tall dude. I thought I saw them, the whole team on his back, and he’s still running.

“They ran like 10 quarterback draws against Alabama.”

Defensive end Frank Herron was in the same film room.

“He was amazing,” Herron said. “There were running draws with a 6-foot-7 guy — like we’re not going to see that. And he’s like 270. He looks 6-8 or 6-9 out there.

“I was watching them taking him down by a leg, but he’s still dragging them and throwing. But if you hit up high, he’s going to take you for a ride.

“May have to high-low him.”

The feeling from the trio of LSU defenders wasn’t really fear or awe — simply amazement.

“You don’t see quarterbacks like that,” Herron said. “He won’t be hard to find.”

Of course, there’s no guarantee that Kelley will even find the field.

He’s led the struggling Razorbacks (4-5, 1-4) to comeback victories the last two games, although it can be debated how encouraging it really is when you need a last-minute desperate drive to beat Coastal Carolina last Saturday. The other was a 38-37 win over Ole Miss.

Allen reportedly was healthy enough to start last week.

But Bielema isn’t tipping his hand.

“I’m not trying to keep it a secret as much as we’re just going to get the best guy in there that gives us a chance to win,” he said Wednesday on the SEC teleconference. “Last week we really didn’t know Cole was going to be the starter until Thursday or Friday. Austin just wasn’t able to get all the reps he needed to get in there.”

Allen was 66 of 116 for 850 yards eight touchdowns before going down. He’s not considered a running threat.

Kelley, who played sparingly before Allen’s injury, is 84-for-141 for 1,002 yards and eight touchdowns. He does occasionally drag a few defenders on the run, although the Razorbacks’ 28 sacks are the most allowed by an SEC team.

“Austin Allen has been in the SEC, been on the road, had some success,” Bielema said. “On the flip side, Cole had to win at Ole Miss, and Saturday’s game — even though it wasn’t pretty — one thing you can’t take away from somebody, once they’ve done it, they’ve done it.”

So LSU waits and wonders.

“We’re preparing for both,” Orgeron said. “They’re different. Austin has won a lot of games for them. Cole Kelley is an up-and-coming quarterback.

“They’re two different quarterbacks. We’ve got a game plan for one, a game plan for the other. Whichever plays, we’ll execute that game plan.”