gohogs14

It’s no coincidence to me that Arkansas announced this the same day they announced a new NIL collective. Fans went from wanting Pittman gone yesterday and being apathetic to galvanizing behind Petrino and being fully on board. Gotta love how irrational sports makes us all.

Yeah the OL is probably the worst I’ve ever seen, which is very surprising considering who the coach is. We’ve usually done a good job of staying in games this year but the defense just imploded yesterday unlike anything they’ve done this year. Definitely the breaking point for Pittman’s tenure here. Ironic thing is Malzahn is one of the first names mentioned who the boosters want to try to bring back here for the 100th time. Worried it’s going to turn into an AD vs. big money situation.

So bipolar. Lose to BYU and an awful Mississippi State team at home but then almost beat LSU and Alabama on the road. In fact, Arkansas has somehow played better on the road than at home this year all season. Shouldn’t really be surprised though since Liberty’s defense gave the Arkansas OL tons of trouble last year and that coaching staff is now at Auburn.

They do for facilities but not necessarily coach contracts or NIL because it’s mostly corporations not individual boosters (except the Hunts in basketball)

I think it’s fair to put Hunter above him this year just because Sanders has missed so much time being injured and doesn’t quite have the burst back from last season (came into the season weighing 240). But he finally looked like his old self against Florida. Hard to believe KJ Jefferson is Arkansas’ leading rusher with less than 300 yards this year.

He's so likeable that we really want him to succeed, and with so many close losses there is a thought that learning to make slightly better in-game decisions and having a better playcaller now might turn around some of those close games into wins (he did exactly that in 2021 when we went 9-4, winning a ton of close ones). Nearly beating LSU and Alabama shows that there is some talent, but it ultimately doesn't really matter if you don't win. He also has a pretty good (for Arkansas standards) ~20th ranked recruiting class coming in so there's that. He essentially fixed the defense which was near dead last in the NCAA last season and is respectable this year so some fans think he should get a chance to do the same with the offense, but if he ends up 4-8 I don't see a realistic way to bring him back. Kiffin having Ole Miss in the top 10 doesn't help. It's always hard to start over yet again but after so long you can't just hold on to "he's better than 2-10 Chad Morris" in the fourth year. Reminds me a little of Mike Anderson for the basketball team where he at least left it in better shape for the next guy even though he was a little underwhelming overall. He might just surprise everyone and retire to his lake house in Hot Springs anyway, who knows.

There were defensive/special teams scores in some other games as well, so it was really 24 against BYU (aided by a fumble recovery with a short field) and 15 against A&M. There are definitely still some warts on the Arkansas offense and the OL is horrible but the game against Florida I believe was the highest yardage output of the season.

The OC change definitely seems to have helped. And getting Sanders back. Arkansas is a hard team to figure out this year. How do you play to within 3 points @ LSU and @ Alabama but then lose to bad BYU and MSU teams at home? Also had a lead against Ole Miss on the road in the 4th. On paper the defense is only ranked 9th in PPG given up in the SEC but considering the offense came into the weekend ranked 120th in the country, the defense has actually done a pretty solid job most of the season despite getting hung out to dry constantly. They do lead the country in defensive touchdowns. Travis Williams has been great so I’m sure it will be weird for him coaching against his former team. Needless to say the next three games might decide if Pittman is back next year so winning the Florida game was a big step.

For what it's worth, KJ Jefferson and Caleb Williams are the only P5 QBs to rank in the top 10 in QB rating each of the last two seasons. KJ actually had a better season last year statistically despite losing Treylon Burks and missing games due to injury.

Briles didn't give Walker the time of day and went after other QBs, Enos wanted him but got on him too late with only 2 weeks to recruit him. He's probably one of the most polarizing topics on the Arkansas boards but he definitely has the frame and a high ceiling. Wish he went outside of the SEC lol

NIL definitely helps. Pelphrey had a top 5 class once but Muss has taken things to a totally different level. Arkansas has always been one of the few schools in the SEC who really cares about basketball and it seems like it finally has the perfect coach to take advantage of it, at least the first since Nolan Richardson.

Ehh they lost to Indiana on a 5-game losing streak and also to Troy and UTSA. Not sure about that.

KJ Jefferson didn't play in that game FWIW, not sure it would have changed the outcome regardless though. It's been a weird year for Arkansas. Beat a one-loss Cincy team and then what turned out to be a decent South Carolina team, then had a freak loss to A&M with weird fluky plays. Battled Alabama to a 28-23 game before Alabama dominated the 4th quarter. Got blown out by MSU with several injuries and then scored the most points all year @ BYU. Not really sure what to expect - the secondary is absolutely horrible but offense can put up some points when they're on.

Jefferson's passing may not always be pretty but he set efficiency and completion percentage records for Arkansas last year and the numbers say he has been pretty accurate this year too. Arkansas runs the ball so much though he never has many opportunities to throw for a lot of yards. He has a great deep ball but there is definitely room for improvement with his short to intermediate accuracy for sure.

Jaylin actually faced off against Kessler in high school in a tournament. Kessler was named tournament MVP but Williams had 33 points in their matchup so it was a great back-and-forth. I'm sure he didn't think they'd be playing against each other again so soon haha.

It was fake, Twitter account has been deleted. Looks like an Ole Miss fan that created it.

Even last year despite going 3-7, Arkansas was much more competitive in most games and lost 3-4 of them by single digits. Knew we had a massive upgrade from Morris but wasn't sure how we'd do this year after losing Franks. Not sure even most optimistic Hog fans would have predicted 9 wins. Pittman did a great job through the portal and convincing 20-something seniors to return for their COVID year. If he can keep both coordinators for a while that stability will go a long way toward finally getting the program in a good spot consistently post-Petrino.

They were very good against Texas and A&M. Not good against UGA and Ole Miss.

New north endzone expansion is pretty nice. Had nearly 80K in there for the first time since the renovation for the Texas game.

Don’t most college football teams do this? Wasn’t sure how/when it started though.

Really have no idea what to think about this game. If Arkansas doesn't do a better job at containing the QB run game than they did against Corral then Nix will have a field day. Our LBs aren't built to keep up with athletic QBs. Glad we'll have Treylon Burks available this year though.

He was until his Arkansas OV

Just committed to Arkansas. Seems a bit risky using a spot on him if he doesn’t qualify but I guess we’ll see.

Yeah Arkansas insider just flipped his CB to Auburn. Sounds like a done deal. Arkansas has had a lot of trouble getting guys from the Memphis area since Nolan. They don’t like us very much lol

Well he only threw 3 passes last year, but yeah I don't think even Arkansas fans saw this coming. I really thought we'd lean on the defense this year but it's been the opposite. Some fans cringed when he was named the starter in the spring without a competition in the fall but those who follow high school always said Austin was the better QB than Brandon. Sucks that Bobby Allen's third child is a female...