16-in-16 2024: Arkansas Razorbacks
Arkansas is coming off a down year that put Sam Pittman on the brink of the unemployment line. Can he resurrect the Hogs and put them back on an upward trajectory?
By: Hammer
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Where do we even begin with Arkansas? The Sam Pittman era could not have started off better. After inheriting a dumpster fire thanks to Chad Morris, Pittman inspired some hope in a 3-7 season in 2020. The record wasn’t great, but they were competitive for the first time in several years. Then in 2021, the Hogs jumped up to 9-4 and seemed poised for a great run. Pittman was humble, likable, and fit in perfectly in Fayetteville. Remember all the “turn that damn jukebox on” fun they had? How about his famous “slobbering hog” statue? Unfortunately, the Sam Pittman star has lost its shine.
State of the Program: 4/12 biscuits. There’s not many worse than us...we’ve got a long way to go; Your third cousin sent some mix in the mail and you bake them, eat half of one, and throw the rest out.
I could sum up the state of the Arkansas program in one word: bad. The program is in rough shape as we sit here today, and there aren't many worse in the SEC. The Hogs went 4-8 last year, including a dismal 1-7 in conference play. New OC Dan Enos was fired midseason for a litany of reasons, including replying to fans who were emailing him upset at his play calling. It was a total mess, and many Arkansas fans wanted Pittman out after last year. But he’s still there and is tasked with rebuilding the program again if he wants to keep his job. To make matters worse, the Razorbacks got wrecked in the portal with 31 players leaving the program, including their best two players in QB KJ Jefferson and RB Rocket Sanders.
To Pittman’s credit, he has always been good in the portal and the Hogs have the 25th-ranked portal class with 22 commits. Only three of them are four-star transfers so it's hard to imagine a bunch of high-level production from that group in the SEC. For the optimistic Hog fan, there is some hope. Bobby Petrino makes his triumphant return to Fayetteville as the new OC this fall, and ole Bobby can still call plays. Petrino improved Texas A&M’s offense by over 10 points per game last fall, despite making it clear that Jimbo Fisher still had a large hand in the offense. Pittman will certainly give Petrino full autonomy over the offense at Arkansas so maybe he can work some magic with new starting QB and Boise State transfer Taylen Green.
What went right in 2023?
Not much, sadly. The Arkansas offense was ranked 69th nationally and their defense was ranked 80th. That ain’t good enough and it's how you end up 4-8.
What went wrong in 2023?
A lot. I already mentioned their offense was a mess. No one bought into Dan Enos and the new offensive. The offensive line got mauled consistently, even though that is supposed to be Pittman’s specialty. In fact, Arkansas ranked 131st in the country in sacks allowed at 4.2 per game. Only Old Dominion and Coach Prime’s Colorado teams gave up more sacks. That simply can’t happen, especially with a new offensive staff and QB. KJ Jefferson is a great college QB and was beaten to a pulp last year, hence why he left the program.
What the Razorbacks need in 2024
No one is expecting great things for Arkansas this year. They just need to be competent and compete. The SEC is brutal and Arkansas, despite recruiting and portaling at a top-25 clip nationally, is always near the bottom of the SEC in those metrics. So they are talented, but not usually as talented as the competition. They are always going to be fighting a slightly uphill battle and that means they need to be competent and not shoot themselves in the foot. Have a good game plan each week, play hard, tough, physical, team-oriented football, and let the chips fall where they may. They haven’t been able to do that the last two years so let's just start with that improvement.
How they can earn some extra biscuits
Before we throw out a win number and start trying to win 8-9 games again, I’m willing to give the Razorbacks some extra biscuits if they just remain competitive all year. Don’t lose to a team like BYU or get blown out at home, huh? Arkansas lost to Auburn 38-10 and Missouri 48-14 AT HOME! That can’t happen in 2024 so to earn some extra biscuits let's just start with the simple task of playing competent, smart, sound football and competing week in and week out.
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