Health of Razorback Football Gets Diagnosed

What kept this team from performing at its peak, and how does the future look as far as improvement?

Author:
Kent Smith
Updated:
Nov 28, 2022 11:42 AM EST
Original:
Nov 26, 2022

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – As the sun crept over the hills on Saturday morning, two tweets posted by fans fully captured the overall feel of where the Arkansas fanbase is following yet another loss to Missouri.

The lonely feeling displayed by @razorback1829 is justified. A day's worth of reading could be filled here with Razorback fans wanting Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman gone. If we threw in the calls for various combinations of his staff to depart, a man could spend the entire weekend on the toilet reading and never get up.

Arkansas fans are highly emotional right now. The measuring stick for the team's health this year was its performance against the four M's – Missouri, Missouri St., Ole Miss, Mississippi St. – and the conclusion is that this team isn't healthy.

The warning signs were there early on. All spring and summer we kept hearing whispers that the secondary looked poised to become a point of weakness, especially if safety Jalen Catalon got hurt again.

Sure enough, barely 20 minutes into the season, Catalon landed on his shoulder and what to that point was a strong defensive performance faded along with his hopes of being a high NFL draft pick.

Then came the first chance to gauge where this team would be without Catalon. A motivated Bobby Petrino brought a Missouri State team that was a land mine disguised in a cupcake wrapper.

It was the worst possible match-up Arkansas could have from a lower tier school. Every strength the Bears had aligned with a weakness the Razorbacks had available to exploit – elite coach, highly talented former D1 quarterback, a long line of capable receivers and a defensive line that was better than expected.

The Hogs had to fight for their lives to come away with a win. Had Petrino not been the coach on the other sideline, it would have felt a little Chad Morris-like.

Mississippi State revealed another massive deficit in the Arkansas program – the lack of a back-up quarterback.

KJ Jefferson is a good quarterback, but his style of play means he will get banged up throughout the season. While it's always a good bet that he will need to miss at least one game, Jefferson missed two and should have missed a third.

The Mississippi State game proved the drop-off after Jefferson was vast. Neither Cade Fortsen, nor Malik Hornsby got anywhere close to the production generated by Jefferson.

Mike Leach ordered an air raid assault on the Razorback secondary while the offense floundered under back-up quarterbacks and the Hogs were quickly pounded to the mat with little hope of getting up.

Arkansas pulled it together for the Ole Miss game. Hudson Clark had settled into his more natural position at safety, the coaches had stumbled onto a diamond in the rough in Quincy McAdoo and Jefferson finally looked healthy after weeks of dealing with an obvious shoulder problem.

The Hogs were ready in every phase to take advantage of a Rebels team coming in with a bit of Alabama hangover and an unending stream of distractions created by the Auburn coaching search. For one game, Arkansas was the team fans envisioned when the year began.

As a result it was almost as frustrating to fans as it was exhilarating.

By the time the Hogs rolled into Columbia, the last issue anyone expected a Pittman coached team to have reared its ugly head. The Arkansas offensive line could no longer block.

Pittman admitted as much afterward.

It's easy to say that Liberty coach Hugh Freeze created a blueprint for how to outmaneuver the Arkansas offensive line in a loss about a month before, but what Missouri did didn't feel as advanced as what the Flames threw out.

Instead, the Razorback offensive line appeared to have more of a footwork problem rather than an issue with confusion. As a result, Missouri defensive linemen shot past blockers over and over, putting unending pressure on Jefferson.

So, in the games that measure the Razorbacks' health, Pittman's Hogs have a pair of losses that were each gut-wrenching in their own unique way, a win that that felt like a loss, and a win that left fans with a fleeting glance of this team's potential.

In other words, this iteration of the Arkansas Razorbacks was about as healthy as an obese man with heart problems fighting cancer during covid.

So what's the prognosis for next year?

The secondary should be better. Clark will have a full season in his proper position, which has already dramatically increased his effectiveness and production.

McAdoo will have a full bowl season, spring practices and summer workouts to grow into the dominant defensive back he appears to have the talent to become. Plus, while there aren't many, the defensive backs Arkansas currently has committed have the potential to provide an upgrade in the secondary provided the staff can hold them until signing day.

As for back-up quarterback, this one is a little more shaky. Arkansas has put a lot of eggs in the basket of Georgia high school quarterback Malachi Singleton.

He has a lot of stars and a lot of hype, but so did Hornsby. Even if he is as billed, that puts Arkansas counting on a freshman to step in at a moment's notice to lead this team. It's a big ask.

Pittman will need to scour the transfer portal and quality quarterbacks don't go to a school in hopes of becoming the next great back-up.

Of course, there's always an even more scary proposition.

Several Arkansas fans posted tweets Saturday night encouraging Jefferson to transfer to a school where he can play in a system where he will have protection and be able to throw to a deeper receiving corps. If that were to happen, the diagnosis for next year's team would simply be life support.

As for offensive line, there are very few in this recruiting class and the ones who are will need polishing. This is the greatest concern for Arkansas.

Pittman has no choice but to hope elite offensive linemen will fill the transfer portal and simply fall into his lap. As crazy as it may seem, this is completely feasible.

There's also the long forgotten junior college route. With everyone looking to restock via portal, there's nowhere near as much competition for elite talent out of the JuCo ranks.

Perhaps the best thing Pittman will have working for him is a much more reasonable set of expectations and much more manageable schedule both for wins and developing players.

One thing is for certain. This is going to be a dramatically altered team from the one fans saw midway through the season.

Changes are coming. Whether they're good for the health of the program remains to be seen.