Hall of Fame
Jack Allen earned first team All-Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference and NAIA honorable mention All-America honors in 1955 while leading the Boll Weevils to the first of four consecutive AIC football championships.
Allen completed 74 of 134 passes for 1,109 yards and nine touchdowns as the Weevils rolled to a 7-2 record and the second conference football title in school history.
“Jack Allen was probably the best small quarterback to ever play in the AIC,” said Charles Dearman, a teammate who protected Allen from his position at offensive guard. “I always thought he could have played Division I ball. He had a strong arm and could about knock you down at 40 yards.”
Two moments in Allen’s career stand out for Dearman.
The first came in the 1954 season opener at War Memorial Stadium against Little Rock Junior College. Ecil Burchfield, who led the Boll Weevils to the first AIC title in school history in 1953, was slated to be the starting quarterback but broke three ribs on the opening kickoff. Allen trotted out to the huddle, looked his linemen in the eye and said, “If you guys block for me, we can beat these guys. He just had a way bringing out the best in you,” said Dearman.
In Allen’s All-America season of 1955, he suffered a broken nose in a 40-6 win over Hendrix. The injury was a closely guarded secret leading up to a showdown with Arkansas Tech in Russellville the following week. “Jack made the comment during the week that if we could keep Tech’s defense off him, we’d beat ‘em,” Dearman remembered. “When the game was over, the only dirty place on his uniform was his right knee where he would kneel in the huddle to call the play.” The Weevils beat Tech 20-7.
