All Hogs

Arkansas Fans Need to Back Off Kiffin

Ole Miss coach right to keep starters in as Hogs forced his hand

Kent Smith

Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Sam Pittman shakes hands with Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin after the game at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Mississippi won 63-31.
Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Sam Pittman shakes hands with Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin after the game at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Mississippi won 63-31. / Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The people of Arkansas were outraged. How dare Lane Kiffin keep his starters in into the fourth quarter when Razorbacks fans had checked out during the early second quarter.

Fans called for Hogs head coach Sam Pittman to make a demonstration of protest after the game by pretending he was going to shake Kiffin's hand and then just walk away. However, such asks were misguided in many ways.

Since many fans fell asleep in their chairs, left the building or went to do anything other than watch the second half of Razorbacks football while waiting for the postgame call-in shows, they didn't get a chance to really soak in what had Kiffin on edge.

You see, unlike Arkansas possibly ever will be, the Rebels are in the midst of the playoff hunt. While Tennessee lost to the Hogs and Texas A&M struggled, Ole Miss needed as big of a win as possible, and back-up quarterback Malachi Singleton wasn't exactly co-operating.

Once coaches finally decided an injured Taylen Green simply wasn't effective, Singleton was given a chance and he immediately began shredding the same defense that stonewalled the Razorbacks the first half.

When all was said and done, Arkansas put up 24 points with Singleton at quarterback and could have had even more had the ball not been punched out from behind as a 45-yard pass to Issac TeSlaa ended with Ole Miss covering the ball in the end zone.

That play alone would have made the score 56-38. Had an illegal formation penalty not wiped out a 60-yard touchdown run by Singleton, Arkansas would have had another two minutes to add yet another score to the board as the Ole Miss defense was doing about as little to stop the Hogs in the second half as the Razorbacks defense was managing on the other side.

Had that played out, it's suddenly 56-45 and the story is no longer about Kiffin's Rebels coming into Fayetteville and walking a mud hole dry, but about how Ole Miss almost blew a huge lead. That doesn't sit well with playoff committee voters when the margin is so thin at a shot to get in at this point.

Singleton was 11-of-14 passing for 270 yards and a touchdown in a half while facing guys like Chris Paul, Jr. and Walter Nolen the same as Green. Had it not been for the penalty, he would have been the Hogs' leading rusher with over 100 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

If Green had come back out and hobbled his way through a few more series, Kiffin likely would have called off the dogs, but not the way Singleton responded on the first series of the second half. He drove the Hogs 75 yards in barely two minutes.

Had it not been for the fumble, Arkansas would have scored touchdowns on all but one second half possession and probably would have finished with five touchdowns on six possessions because Singleton was inspiring the best out of those around him when there was no reason to do anything other than shut it down and get an early start on an off week.

Kiffin knew Jaxon Dart could score at will against the Arkansas secondary. He also knew that had to keep happening or a major mark on the Ole Miss resume was about to be wiped from existence.

Fans shouldn't be mad at Kiffin for respecting what Arkansas was doing while protecting his team's playoff hopes by keeping the starters in late. They should be frustrated that for two weeks, in pivotal games, they had to watch an injured Green not be able to work his magic because of unavoidable limitations when there was a capable quarterback who could have kept the Hogs in the game despite the weaknesses both LSU and Ole Miss were exploiting with the secondary.

The way Singleton moved the ball Saturday should generate a legitimate competition at quarterback over the next two weeks. It also should shut the door on Green getting under center unless he is 100% because he's not the better option without his wheels at full capacity.

Of course, that's easy to say from an office that boosters who paid good money to bring Green to Arkansas can't walk into or call up to demand the investment be honored no matter the outcome. That's the hard part of the job where logic flies out the window, leaving Pittman to make a decision no one outside of his shoes can fully comprehend, nor adequately judge.

HOGS FEED:

• Razorbacks can only hope for help in football

• Kiffin's press conference highlights standard Arkansas is lacking

• What should Hogs' expectations be for Calipari's first season?

• Ole Miss simply had talent to react to Razorbacks' defense

• Hogs stuck in mediocrity with momentum neutralized

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Kent Smith
KENT SMITH

Kent Smith has been in the world of media and film for nearly 30 years. From Nolan Richardson's final seasons, former Razorback quarterback Clint Stoerner trying to throw to anyone and anything in the blazing heat of Cowboys training camp in Wichita Falls, the first high school and college games after 9/11, to Troy Aikman's retirement and Alex Rodriguez's signing of his quarter billion dollar contract, Smith has been there to report on some of the region's biggest moments. 

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