Losing Big Chunks of Football Games Norm in Arkansas

If so, why are Razorback fans so out of sorts as Hogs, Pittman maintain tradition?

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas fans should be used to long stretches of losses by the football program each fall, so all this fluster and bluster can't be about simply losing. 

Piling up large chunks of losses sometime between late September and early November is as time honored and expected as college students finding a way into trouble down on Dixon St. For instance, last season, Arkansas fans didn't experience a win between Sept. 18 and Oct. 14, and two of those losses were horrendous. That was followed by losing 3-of-4 in November. 

That 2021 season every treats as if it were a national championship year featured a stretch where the only win Arkansas could must in October was Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Even the teams Razorback fans fictionalize into greatness make losing the norm for long stretches. It's the Razorback way. 

Even if you skip over the first Sam Pittman season and pretend Chad Morris never happened, the 2017 team under Bielema won a single game over New Mexico St. the entire month of September until the last weekend in October. That's just how things are done around here. You have to go all the way back to Bobby Petrino's final season in 2011 to not come across one of these signature meltdowns. 

So, if losing big chunks of games close together is nothing new, there must be something else stirring the fans up to such a degree. It can't be that one side of the ball is repeatedly wasting high quality efforts by the other half of the team. Arkansas literally had the worst passing defense in college football last season, which cost Pittman and his Razorbacks game after game, and fans didn't get worked up like this.

The only thing that can pinpointed is hope. Hog fans had a belief the offense would be dominant once again. After all, quarterback KJ Jefferson and running back Raheim "Rocket" Sanders were going to blow the SEC away with their final performances before dancing into that NFL sunset. The strength problems along the offensive line were going to be resolved and there was trust in the credentials of tights ends coach Morgan Turner. As long as the defense improved just a little, the Razorbacks were going to be contenders. 

Well, the defense didn't improve a little. It improved a lot. The energy in recruiting and on the field from the defensive side has far surpassed what most expected. Unfortunately, the huge letdown has been on the offensive side of things. Turner has shown to be as advertised with his tight ends proving to be the bright spot in a bleak outlook going forward.

Fans weren't counting on receivers who couldn't create separation to create big plays. They didn't foresee Jefferson running for his life all game long, eventually becoming gun shy after being the SEC's punching bag for several weeks. No one saw the running game getting erased from the equation because blocks can't be held long enough for a back to squeeze by. 

Losing games is kinda OK. It's how things are done in Fayetteville. However, losing without belief is where people fall off the wagon. The odd things is, Arkansas has been in it pretty much every game. Of the four losses, only one was by more than a touchdown. The only problem is Pittman already played that card when trying to sugar coat last season. Fans have worn thin on the best losers to play the game line. 

Had the problem been on defense and the games were close with great effort and improvement, fans wouldn't be so angry. They would be understanding because that's how growth works. Unfortunately, Briles handed over the keys to a race car featuring a backfield loaded with NFL prospects and it's been wrecked. Both draft stocks and hope have been driven off a cliff, and fans aren't quick to forgive when players who have given like Jefferson and Sanders have are treated poorly.

And make no mistake about it., the perception is poor treatment. These were men ready to give Arkansas everything they had to win while building on their NFL odds. What's been done to them since is a travesty. Perhaps they can pick up the pieces in the combine, but it will be hard to overcome the damage done by their time on the field this year. 

That's why the fans will demand a sacrifice of some kind. The general consensus seems to be a desire to keep the defensive staff and even much of the offensive staff. The debate seems to be around Dan Enos, Cody Kennedy and Pittman. If the guys people want to stay are to stick around, then Pittman has to stay. Should that be the case, there has been nothing shown to indicate Enos and Kennedy can work together. One or both will have to go if this is going to be the path forward. 

Their efforts are directly responsible for the loss of hope around the program and decline of two beloved Razorbacks' NFL prospects. That's why this one has felt different. It's also why there will almost certainly be change of some sort by season's end. Fans just aren't built to forgive when things reach a certain point, and, barring something unexpected against Alabama, it will have been reached.

HOGS FEED:

SATURDAY'S GAME AGAINST ALABAMA SHOULD BE CLOSER THAN EXPECTED FOR ONE REASON

HOGS MAY FALL VICTIM TO NICK SABAN CAREER MILESTONE

WHAT DOES HISTORY SAY ABOUT HOGS' CHANCES OF MAKING BOWL GAME THIS YEAR?

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