Change is scary, in anything. For years, some local media outlets have practically promised Arkansas football fans the world and then some. This will be the year that everything falls into place. That sentiment usually wasn’t shared outside of Fayetteville, but it sure seems to be now, in what is likely to be KJ Jefferson’s final year.
The USA Today Alabama football site put Arkansas at No. 5 in its SEC Power Rankings, ahead of other strong Top 5 contenders like Ole Miss, Kentucky and Texas A&M. In a blurb, Brody Smoot insists that the combination of Jefferson at quarterback and Raheim “Rocket” Sanders at running back along with the Hogs’ transfer portal haul is good enough for a fifth-place overall SEC ranking, behind only Alabama and LSU in the west. The Montgomery Adviser also predicts Arkansas to beat the Tigers.
Excuse my cynicism, but for the Hogs to actually finish in the top 5 of the SEC this season, almost EVERYTHING would have to go right.
Pumping the Brakes on Alabama Football Outlet
First, outside of head coach Sam Pittman, there was a massive overhaul on the coaching staff. Offensive coordinator Dan Enos is back for his second stint. Defensive coordinator Travis Williams and co-DC Marcus Woodson are attempting to revitalize a defense that ranked 101st in scoring defense against FBS opponents last year.
Other new coaches include tight ends coach Morgan Turner and secondary coach Deron Wilson. While initial signs out of camp are that the entire coaching staff gels together well, the pressures of real-game situations have the potential to expose whatever cracks there are in the cohesion.
Next, there’s the transfers. Arkansas has never relied on this many transfers before and a case could be made that no other team in the SEC is relying more on their portal class than the Razorbacks.
Two starting receivers are transferring up from lower levels and are getting their first taste of SEC play. Isaac TeSlaa is coming in from Division II Hillsdale College and although his measurables are impressive, the rigors of a mid-season stint that includes four preseason AP-ranked teams in consecutive weeks (No. 5 LSU, No. 23 Texas A&M, No. 22 Mississippi and No. 4 Alabama) will test the receivers like never before.
Defensive linemen Trajan Jeffcoat and Keivie Rose bring in serious credentials from Missouri and Louisiana Tech, respectively. Cornerback Jaheim Singletary from Georgia should help last year’s depleted secondary, but questions remain about how he’ll handle his first real playing time in college.
Other Factors to Consider for Arkansas Football
There are also external factors. One that’s not nearly talked about enough is Arkansas’ improvement relative to the competition. The Hogs are better, but one can develop a myopic view, after watching the same team for weeks on end, that they are the only ones improving.
BYU hired a new defensive coordinator and brought in former USC quarterback Kedon Slovis to run the offense. Texas A&M boasts an impressive transfer class of its own, including two four-star cornerbacks (Tony Grimes and Sam McCall), according to 247Sports. Hugh Freeze took the reins at Auburn and he has always been a thorn in the Hogs’ side. Ole Miss boasts an even better transfer class than Arkansas’ and will certainly be looking for revenge after Arkansas derailed their season last year. It remains to be seen just how many wins the improved Arkansas personnel can generate.
Finally, there’s the schedule itself. The seismic jump in levels of competition between conference and non-conference is jarring. There’s also the issue of eight weeks of games in a row before the bye week, about which Pittman expressed concern in a press conference on Monday.
The aforementioned four ranked opponents followed by Mississippi State and a road game against Florida, where the Hogs have had their fair share of troubles, wrap up a brutal stretch of games. With so many moving parts and unknowns, this Arkansas football season promises to be interesting and full of entertainment.
But it feels like too much optimism to put them third in the SEC West, behind only the perennial powerhouses that are the LSU and Alabama football programs. That’s more of a wish on how high the Hog ceiling can be rather than a realistic prediction.
Arkansas and Alabama Football in Other SEC Power Rankings
- Georgia
- Alabama
- LSU
- Tennessee
- Texas A&M (more optimistic that the Aggies secondary will shine)
- Ole Miss
- Kentucky (optimistic offense will get much-needed jolt after averaging only 17.5 points per SEC game last year)
- Arkansas
- South Carolina
- Auburn
- [I choose not to list those after the Top 10]
ESPN’s SEC Football Power Index
- Alabama
- Georgia
- LSU
- Tennessee
- Ole Miss
- Texas A&M
- Kentucky
- Arkansas
- Florida
- Mississippi State
USA Today’s Tennessee site (Vols Wire)
- Georgia
- Tennessee
- Alabama
- LSU
- Ole Miss
- Texas A&M
- Kentucky
- Arkansas
- Missouri
- South Carolina
AL.com (largest newspaper in Alabama)
- Georgia
- Alabama
- LSU
- Tennessee
- Ole Miss
- South Carolina
- Texas A&M
- Arkansas
- Kentucky
- Auburn
“The Razorbacks have been to back-to-back bowl games under Sam Pittman, which is not nothing considering they had missed out on four straight postseasons prior to 2021. Still, Arkansas might have trouble avoiding getting lost in the wash in an SEC that is getting better every year.”
Auburn Daily
- Georgia
- LSU
- Alabama
- Tennessee
- Texas A&M
- Kentucky
- Arkansas
- Ole Miss
- South Carolina
- Auburn
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