Trio Begins Senior Bowl Week
MOBILE, Ala. – The senior trio of quarterback Brandon Allen, offensive lineman Sebastian Tretola and running back Jonathan Williams will represent the Arkansas football program this week on the South squad at the 2016 Reese’s Senior Bowl held in Mobile, Alabama.
The SEC, which is coming off a 9-2 bowl season, leads all conferences with 23 student-athletes in the Senior Bowl, while Arkansas’ three are tied for the second-most in the conference. It marks the 10th straight year that Arkansas has been represented in the Senior Bowl while its three players are its most since 2000.
For the first time in a decade, ESPN will televise Senior Bowl practices. The network will broadcast both the North and South practices live from Ladd-Peebles Stadium on Wednesday and Thursday on ESPNU. The South team with Allen, Tretola and Williams will practice from 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. on both Wednesday at Thursday. ESPN last televised Senior Bowl practices in 2006. The NFL Network will also broadcast from the Senior Bowl practices and will air its coverage in three one-hour primetime shows on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
The 67th Reese’s Senior Bowl will kickoff at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday and will be shown on ESPN for the 10th consecutive year.
Players arrived on Sunday and Monday before weigh-ins and measurable were recorded on Tuesday morning in front of NFL scouts and media. Both teams will take the practice field on Tuesday afternoon for the first time with the South team going from 1:15-3:00 p.m.
Allen finished the season with 3,440 passing yards and 30 touchdowns en route to being a finalist for the Manning Award. He became just the third player in Arkansas history to throw for 3,000 yards in a season, thanks to a program-best three 400-yard games. He also completed 66 percent of his passes and led the SEC in both touchdown passes against conference opponents (21) and passer rating (166.48). Allen was at his best during Arkansas’ 5-1 record over the second half of the regular season. He set a program record with six touchdown passes against Ole Miss on Nov. 7, before breaking it two weeks later with seven touchdown passes against Mississippi State, which was the most by an FBS quarterback in a game this season and equaled an SEC record.
Named a first team All-American by Sports Illustrated and a second team All-American by three other media outlets (Associated Press, Sporting News, Athlon), Tretola continues a strong tradition of Arkansas offensive lineman at the Senior Bowl as the Razorbacks have had an offensive lineman in the game seven of the last 10 years. Tretola graded out at over 80 percent in 10 of 13 games this season, leading an Arkansas rushing attack that led the SEC with five 200-yard games in conference play. The co-recipient of the Jacobs Blocking Trophy, which recognizes the top blocker in the SEC, Tretola started 24 straight games to close out his two-year career as a Razorback. He was Arkansas highest-graded offensive lineman six times as a senior and was named the SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week on Oct. 5.
Despite missing the entire season after suffering a foot injury in fall camp, Williams is the No. 8-ranked running back in this year’s NFL Draft, according to ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. Williams was selected to the preseason All-SEC second team by the media and named to the Maxwell Award Watch List prior to suffering the injury after rushing for 1,190 yards and 12 touchdowns on just 211 carries as a junior. Following his junior campaign, Williams was named to the Associated Press All-SEC second team and was an Earl Campbell Award semifinalist.
Senior Bowl TV Schedule
Wednesday, Jan. 27 – South Team Practice – 1:30-3:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
Thursday, Jan. 28 – South Team Practice – 1:30-3:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
Saturday, Jan. 30 – Senior Bowl – 1:30 p.m. (ESPN)
