Getting the Arkansas football program back on track after a disastrous 2023 season is a daunting task, but Sam Pittman seemed up to the challenge at SEC Media Days last week.
That’s probably because he’s no stranger to such a turnaround. Now entering Year 5 on the job, Pittman initially took over the Razorbacks after back-to-back 2-10 seasons led by Chad Morris. It was arguably the lowest point in the history of the program.
After exceeding expectations in his first season, the former offensive line coach guided Arkansas to its best season in a decade in 2021, capped by a win in the Outback Bowl. That seems like a distant memory, though, as the Razorbacks stumbled to a 4-8 mark last season.
Pittman is on the hot seat, but he’s confident his squad will return to respectability in 2024.
“Our expectations are as high as they’ve ever been for this season coming up,” Pittman told reporters from across the conference. “If we can take 4-20 to 9-4, we can deal with 4-8, too, and that’s what we’re going to do. I’m very excited about the Arkansas Razorbacks.”
That sounds great, especially during the height of “talking season” at SEC Media Days, but this time around how exactly do the Razorbacks go about flipping their record around?
Figuring Out the Close Games
The No. 1 thing that Sam Pittman and his team must figure out his how to win close games. Half of the Razorbacks’ 12 games last season were decided by seven points or less and their record in them was just 1-5.
“We have to finish the season,” Pittman said. “We did not do that well. We have to figure out how to finish, win the close games. We lost five games by a touchdown or less. We have got figure that out. We feel like we’re well on our way to getting that accomplished.”
Arkansas’ lone win was a wild 39-36 overtime victory at Florida. All five such losses came during a six-game losing streak in which the outlier was a 12-point loss to Texas A&M — and even that was a one-score game midway through the third quarter.
There were some heartbreakers that easily could have swung the Razorbacks’ fate:
- Arkansas jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead, but ultimately surrendered 17 unanswered points in an 38-31 loss to BYU in Fayetteville.
- A last-second field goal gave LSU a 34-31 win in Death Valley.
- Ole Miss scored 10 unanswered points to beat Arkansas 27-20 in a game the Razorbacks led until midway through the fourth quarter.
- Arkansas had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead at Alabama midway through the fourth quarter, but had to punt and never got the ball back in a 24-21 loss.
- The offense was abysmal in a 7-3 loss to Mississippi State, a game that ultimately led to the firing of Dan Enos.
If the Razorbacks figure out a way to win just two of those five games, they would be once again coming off a bowl game and Pittman might have more of a leash heading into 2024.
Of course, this isn’t just a one-year anomaly for Arkansas. It has played 14 games decided by a field goal or less since Pittman took over, which is second only to Memphis (15) in the FBS, and is just 4-10 in those games.
The 10 losses by three or fewer points are the most in the country over that span, just edging out Toledo and Nebraska, which have nine.
As his former boss, Bret Bielema, can probably attest, turning those into wins is easier said than done. However, based on what he’s seen from his team this offseason, Pittman believes Arkansas football can do it.
“I really like this team,” Pittman said. “I really do. I’m not trying to win media days. I’m just going to tell you how I feel. I really like this team, and I think with the culture and the tightness of the team, I think you can win those games a little bit easier than if it’s the other way.”
“Culture” is a football buzzword that coaches like to throw around and perhaps it could help make a difference in 2024, but winning those close games probably requires some on-field tweaks, as well.
Arkansas’ Goal on Offense
On offense, everything starts up front for Arkansas.
When the Razorbacks were rolling under former offensive coordinator Kendal Briles, they had one of the top rushing attacks in the country.
In 2021, Arkansas put up 227.8 rushing yards per game. The following year, that number jumped up to 236.5. The Razorbacks ranked seventh nationally each of those seasons.
Last year, an injury to Rocket Sanders and – most notably – struggles on the offensive line led to Arkansas averaging just 139 rushing yards per game. That ranked 87th in the FBS, a drastic drop from the previous two years.
Running the ball is especially critical late in games, as teams are trying to control the ball and run out the clock. That simply wasn’t possible for Arkansas in 2023.
Luckily for the Razorbacks, Pittman said at SEC Media Days that the offensive line was the team’s “most improved” unit during the spring and he is excited about that group.
That didn’t stop a reporter from questioning him about the unit’s failures last year, which were surprising given his extensive offensive line background. Pittman admitted it was a “very fair” question and said it ultimately boiled down to needing more talent.
That’s why he “wanted to attack” the transfer portal this offseason. He did just that by bringing in Fernando Carmona Jr. from San Jose State, Addison Nichols from Tennessee and Keyshawn Blackstock from Michigan State – all of whom have been praised by Pittman for their leadership.
“When you have guys that don’t just want to play on the O-line but want to lead, ‘Look, bro, we got to go. We got to go. We got to go, we got to do this, extra here,’” Pittman said. “When you have those guys in there, which we have, leading like that, I think that you can get a lot better.”
Those three guys are expected to start at left tackle, center and right tackle, respectively. As for the guards, the Razorbacks return All-SEC right guard Joshua Braun – a transfer from Florida last offseason – and have moved Patrick Kutas inside.
That move is just as critical as Arkansas’ transfer portal additions, as it seemed to have a tremendous impact on Kutas after he struggled as their right tackle last year.
“We have a player in Kutas that I really like,” Pittman said. “He lost his confidence out there. He was the best we had but he lost his confidence out there. We move him inside, he’s a heck of a player. One the strongest guys on the team.”
Arkansas’ Goal on Defense
When Sam Pittman hired Travis Williams as his new defensive coordinator last offseason, he joked that he made him nervous because of the aggressive style of defense he uses.
Pinning your ears back and getting after the quarterback is a good thing, but it sometimes leads to issues on the back end of the defense, especially if the secondary isn’t up to snuff.
The hire led to Pittman anticipating using a lot more “cover zero” schemes, in which defensive backs are man-to-man with no safety help behind them.
While there were times the defense flashed and really got after the quarterback, it wasn’t quite as aggressive as Pittman led people to believe entering the season. In fact, one reporter at SEC Media Days mentioned to the Arkansas coach that he counted only 52 total plays in which the Razorbacks were in cover zero.
Part of that was personnel driven, as Arkansas didn’t have a strong enough secondary to fully implement those aggressive type of plays, but it was also something for which Pittman took some responsibility.
“Some of our discussion has been about our aggressiveness during the end of games defensively,” Pittman said. “I think Travis did a wonderful job for us last year, but I don’t want to handcuff him either. 52 of those plays, will it go up? Probably. But I do think we’re a little bit better at corner and a little bit better in the safety spot to be able to cover zero, cover true man, (so) that we can do that.”
One game Pittman specifically mentioned was the LSU loss. Playing in Baton Route, the Razorbacks tied it up at 31-31 with 5:06 remaining.
The Tigers promptly hit a 36-yard pass on the first play of the ensuing possession, converted a critical third-and-4 play with a 5-yard completion and were able to run the clock down to 5 seconds before kicking a game-winning 20-yard field goal.
“Should we have went after LSU when we tied it up 31 apiece instead of taking it slow?” Pittman said in an interview on SEC Now. “I don’t know, but we looked at it and decided, ‘Maybe we should have.’”
Not Shying Away from Expectations
Wins certainly won’t be easy to find on the 2024 Arkansas football schedule.
Even though they don’t have to play Alabama or Georgia, the Razorbacks do face the teams picked to finish second, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, ninth and 10th. That’s seven of the top 10 teams in the SEC’s preseason poll, with only one of the bottom six (Mississippi State at No. 15). They also have to travel to Oklahoma State in Week 2.
That’s why most sports books have set Arkansas’ win total at 4.5 and it is picked to finish 14th itself. However, Pittman’s expectations remain higher than that.
“We know our fans deserve a team that competes at the highest level,” Pittman said. “We’re excited to make that happen. The support from our Razorback community hasn’t wavered. It fuels our drive to turn things around. Our focus is to embrace the hog, which means we need to be tough, we need to be together, we need to be consistent, accountable, and do it with pride.”
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