A few months before he sent shockwaves through the college basketball world by hiring John Calipari, Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek green-lit another stunning move: the return of Bobby Petrino.
It required extra approval, and some humility from head coach Sam Pittman, but bringing back the former head coach as the Razorbacks’ next offensive coordinator is paying dividends.
The eye test is more than enough to see just how much better Arkansas has moved the ball under Petrino compared to the Dan Enos disaster a year ago.
That was no more evident than last week. The Razorbacks scored 58 points and nearly broke a school record for an SEC game with 673 total yards against Mississippi State, which was a stark contrast to last year’s stinker of a 7-3 loss to the Bulldogs in which they managed only 200 yards.
Enos was fired the following day, just eight games into his second stint in Fayetteville. After eight games in his own return, Petrino has the Arkansas offense headed in the opposite direction.
In fact, a quick glance at the Razorbacks’ statistics shows that may be the understatement of the century.
The Petrino Effect
With a successful opening drive in this weekend’s Arkansas vs Ole Miss game, Bobby Petrino’s unit could surpass last year’s 12-game yardage total. It needs just 59 to clear the 3,918 yards it compiled across 12 games in 2023.
Even if it doesn’t happen quite so fast, the Razorbacks will almost certainly eclipse that mark some point Saturday — which is impressive considering it’s just the ninth game of the season.
Arkansas enters the matchup averaging a whopping 482.5 yards per game. Not only does that rank second in the SEC and seventh nationally, but it’s just four-hundredths of a yard shy of the UA single-season record. Petrino is also responsible for that mark, as his 2010 team put up 482.54 yards per game.
That would be impressive in its own right, but it’s even more so because of just how bad the offense was last year. The Razorbacks were averaging just 305.9 yards when Enos was let go, but did manage to bump that up to 326.5 by the end of the season.
Even using that latter mark, Arkansas has increased its yardage output by a whopping 47.8%. That would be the second-largest year-over-year increase since 1947, which is how far back that particular statistic is available.
The only larger jump was by the historic 1977 team that won the Orange Bowl under first-year head coach Lou Holtz. The Razorbacks averaged 412.9 yards that season after averaging just 275.5 the year before — a 49.9% increase.
(As a side note, Holtz’s defensive coordinator was Monte Kiffin. That meant his son, then 2-year-old Lane Kiffin, was living in Fayetteville at the time. Now 49, Kiffin will return to Fayetteville this weekend for the Arkansas vs Ole Miss game, as the head coach of the Rebels.)
Stark Contrast to Enos
Of course, critics of Bobby Petrino would likely be quick to point out that he hasn’t had quite as big of an impact where it matters the most: the scoreboard.
The Razorbacks have put up 33.3 points per game so far this season, which is fifth in the SEC and 31st nationally. While not ranked as high as the yardage totals, that is still good for 10th all-time in program history and Arkansas’ best scoring mark since 2015 (35.9 ppg).
It’s also not as dramatic of an increase over last year under Dan Enos. The Razorbacks’ eight-game scoring average of 33.3 points is a 25.7% jump from the 26.5 average score they put up over the first eight games of last season.
However, that can easily be explained by some additional context. Most notably, last year’s defense had a knack for forcing turnovers — especially early on — and routinely set the offense up in good field position. They even returned three interceptions for touchdowns themselves.
Throw in Isaiah Sategna’s punt return touchdown against BYU and Arkansas got 28 non-offensive points while Enos was the offensive coordinator. This year? Defense and special teams have yet to score through eight games for the first time since 2012.
Take out those points and the Razorbacks’ scoring average drops to 23 points per game.
It’s not quite as significant, but another major difference is in the quality of kicker between this year and last. Cam Little was 12 of 13 on field goals at this point in 2023, while Kyle Ramsey and Matthew Shipley have combined to go 12 of 18.
If Little was still at Arkansas, it’s safe to assume he’d have at least made 16 of those kicks. Four more field goals would mean an additional 12 points for the offense, improving its average to 34.8 points per game.
Those adjusted numbers would mean the Razorbacks have increased their scoring by 51.5%.
Arkansas Football Stats Thru 8 Games
Essentially the only areas that aren’t significantly better under Bobby Petrino compared to Dan Enos are turnovers and red zone conversions — and those two are directly related, with the aforementioned missed field goals also playing a role in the latter.
It’s worth noting that Arkansas has a lower completion percentage this season, as well. That can likely be explained by the two starting quarterbacks. KJ Jefferson was a fifth-year senior in his third season as the Razorbacks’ full-time starter, while Taylen Green is a fourth-year junior, but in his first season at Arkansas.
Consider this, as well: Jefferson completed 67.7% of his passes from 2021-22, but that dipped to 64.2% last year. Meanwhile, Green is coming off a season in which he completed 57.1% of his passes at Boise State and now, in his first season in the SEC, has a 60.6% completion percentage. Incredibly, he’s been even more accurate in conference play, connecting with his targets at a 63.2% rate.
(Green, by the way, is on pace to break the late Ryan Mallett’s single-season record for total offense and has a good chance to accomplish something no other player in UA history has.)
Here’s a side-by-side look at the 2023 offense under Enos and 2024 offense under Petrino, through eight games:
| Stat | 2023 under Enos | 2024 under Petrino |
|---|---|---|
| Points/game | 26.5 | 33.3 |
| Yards/game | 305.9 | 482.5 |
| Yards/play | 4.71 | 6.76 |
| Rushing yards/game | 109.0 | 199.3 |
| Yards/carry | 2.93 | 5.26 |
| Passing yards/game | 196.9 | 283.3 |
| Yards/attempt | 7.13 | 8.46 |
| Completion % | 65.6% | 61.6% |
| Passer rating | 141.5 | 140.9 |
| 3rd down % | 40.0% | 48.6% |
| Turnovers | 9 | 13 |
| Sacks allowed | 31 | 17 |
| TFL allowed | 61 | 45 |
| Red zone % | 95.8% (23 of 24) | 81.6% (31 of 38) |
| Red zone TD% | 66.7% (16 of 24) | 65.8% (25 of 38) |
| Explosive runs (10+ yards) | 24 | 60 |
| Explosive passes (20+ yards) | 23 | 32 |
| 3-and-out drives | 27 of 93 (29.0%) | 12 of 95 (12.6%) |
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If you’re having a hard time believing us about Taylen Green breaking a Ryan Mallett record, take a look at the numbers for yourself:
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