Alabama Football: Be prepared for a BIG QB surprise from the Hogs
By Ronald Evans
Arkansas has prepped three quarterbacks for Saturday night. Alabama football does not know who Bielema will choose or how it may change the Hogs’ attack.
Alabama football knows what to expect from Austin Allen. In 27 games and 17 starts, Allen has shown strong passing skills, good decision-making and toughness. Last season, Allen passed for 400 yards and three touchdowns against the Tide.
Arkansas has two problems associated with Austin Allen. He may not be healthy enough to compete Saturday night and if he can play, the Hogs may not be able to protect him. It is that lack of protection that led to Allen’s shoulder injury. Allen has had a good Arkansas career making the most of his receivers despite frequently being under defensive pressure.
Allen did not see the 4th quarter last week in the Hogs’ 48-22 loss to South Carolina. After Allen went down Bret Bielema turned to redshirt-freshman Cole Kelley. In Saturday’s pregame, if you notice a player who looks like a tight end, a BIG tight end, throwing the football, that will be Kelley.
Cole Kelley is 6-foot-seven and 268 pounds. As reported by Mark Edwards of the Anniston Star, when Nick Saban saw Kelley on film he said,
"“I thought he was a Wildcat quarterback that was a tight end”"
Austin Allen will be a game-time decision
Bret Bielema will make a game-time decision on Allen. The Hogs’ coach expects Allen will try to play. Even without any pounding from the Tide defesnse, Allen’s shoulder may make him ineffective. At that point, Bielema has two more options: Kelley and sophomore Ty Storey.
Storey played in three games last season, throwing four passes with one completion for three yards. Bielema commented on Storey,
"The good news about Ty is, Ty is very similar in the fact to Austin, he understands that game, He gets football. He knows mentally where to ball is supposed to go. He knows our offense."
In the fourth quarter last week, Bielema chose Kelley over Storey. Kelley was 8-for-13 for 140 yards and a touchdown. On the season he is 11-for-18 for 186 yards and three touchdowns. He has also rushed for 42 yards.
Bielema likes his BIG guy
Speaking about Kelley, Bielema was complimentary of the big guy,
"If you’ve seen him, he’s got a knack. He looks like he’s in slo-mo, but he covers a lot of room in a short amount of time. The one thing that Cole Kelley does not lack is confidence. He probably thinks he can play Bama on Saturday and the Patriots on Sunday. That’s just the way he’s kind of wired."
Nick Saban and the Alabama football defense will give no thought to how Kelley is wired or to any scheme adjustments that may come with a QB change. Teams cannot prepare for something they have not seen. Alabama football will have to adjust on the fly.
As reported by Mark Edwards, Saban said,
"We’d be defending a ghost if we tried to figure it out, We can’t really figure it out. We may have to adapt in the game."
Whether it is Allen, Kelley, Storey and or a ghost, The Razorbacks are catching the Alabama football team at a bad time. For the Hogs, that is. The Crimson Tide will look to dominate and that does not bode well for any Hogs’ QB, even if one of them is bigger than the largest Tide linebacker.
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