Four Razorback football players named to pre-season All-SEC teams

The University of Arkansas football team had four student-athletes named to the 2014 Preseason All-SEC team as voted on by the media, which was announced on Thursday (July 17).

Running back Alex Collins, defensive end Trey Flowers and punter Sam Irwin-Hill were voted to the second team, while tight end Hunter Henry was named to the third team.

Collins, who was also named to the Doak Walker Award Watch List Thursday, brought in 126 votes from the media for the highest selection of any Razorback offensive player. The 2013 SEC Freshman of the Year ran for 1,026 yards on 190 carries (5.4 yards per carry) and four touchdowns as a true freshman. Collins had four 100-yard games, and became the first SEC freshman to begin his career with three straight 100-yard rushing performances, and the first in FBS since 2004 (Adrian Peterson, Oklahoma). The Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., native landed on several Freshman All-American and All-SEC teams after leading all of NCAA in freshman running yards a year ago. Collins finished first on the year in all-purpose yards with 1,089 yard from scrimmage.

The All-SEC Second-Team selection adds to the list of preseason awards for defensive end Trey Flowers. The senior has already been named to the Bednarik, Nagurski, and Lombardi Award Watch List this season after collecting 44 tackles with 13.5 tackles for loss and five sacks in 2013. The Huntsville, Ala., earned the highest amount of votes for an Arkansas player as he gained 181 votes. The second-team All-SEC selection finished second in the conference in tackles for loss per game (1.23). Flowers forced three fumbles, which tied for the second-highest total in the SEC, two pass breakups, one interception, and five quarterback hurries.

For Irwin-Hill, this is his second preseason honor, as he was named to the Ray Guy Award Preseason Watch List. The punter finished third in the SEC in yards per punt with 44.3, and punted 46 times for 2,038 yards. He led the conference with 20 punts inside the 20-yard line. This past season, Irwin-Hill recorded the longest punt in the SEC with his 79-yarder against No. 14 South Carolina.

Henry was the lone third team representative for Arkansas on media day, after he earned freshman All-American honors a year ago. The Little Rock, Ark., native was also named to the John Mackey Award Watch list earlier this preseason. Henry caught 28 passes for 409 yards and tied a team-high in touchdowns with four as a freshman. He was named an All-SEC Second-Team member by the associated press last season, and was one of two freshman to be selected to the Mackey Award Midseason Watch List. The tight end’s 109-yard performance against Texas A&M last season was the only 100-yard receiving game by a freshman tight end in the SEC a year ago.