If Razorbacks Didn't Quit Saturday, It Was Remarkable Imitation

Now Sam Pittman has big question looming, but Hunter Yurachek has bigger one

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — I'm reasonably sure Arkansas didn't plan to quit against Missouri on Saturday, but it certainly looked like they did. If coach Sam Pittman doesn't get it fixed, he's got a problem, but athletics director Hunter Yurachek has his own set of things to deal with figuring out.

The final record was 4-8, They got lucky to get there. If Florida had a kicker that didn't miss by a couple of feet at the end of regulation, the Razorbacks would be 3-9. That would just make everything worse. 

Pittman can duck and dodge the tough questions all he wants, but sooner or later he's going to have to answer them. He keeps dropping hints they will be competitive in NIL and that sounds as much like hope as a plan. Considering the entire veil of secrecy around everything in that area these days, Like in his postgame press conference Saturday what they could do to get momentum after this.

"I don't know," Pittman said bluntly. "Somebody else."

Really, Sam? You're not paid millions of dollars every year to just expound on the questions you like. It was a fair question, but operating behind this whole wall of silence except for the games isn't going to work with Hogs' fans. These folks are starting to figure out they can pay a few thousand bucks less for a nice home setup to watch games and not have to deal with the hassles of going to a game in person.

"We’re going to be very competitive there and I’m really excited about that," Pittman said. "Hell, nobody wants to sit up here like this. Nobody does, but I’m the head coach. I’m supposed to sit up here, good and bad, but I think there’s a big chance for us to change where we’re at and I’m excited to have the opportunity to do it. I am excited about our NIL situation."

Maybe Pittman knows how much that sounds like a previous coach. Considering Pittman's record with the Hogs is 23-25 and trending in the wrong direction. Out of his four seasons, that 9-4 record and an Outback Bowl win are about the only things he's got to hang his hat on around here. That's not enough good will to ride it out for long.

There's no idea what that NIL number is, but we will never know the exact number of any number of private NIL collectives set up that don't go though the university. There will be transparency on anything the university has dealings with through Freedom of Information Act laws, but that won't apply to private deals and I'm not real sure how those will be regulated, as much as Yurachek or anybody else wants to try.

The courts have already stripped the NCAA of doing anything to stop schools from paying athletes directly. That may be consistent, but who's going to know what's real and what's for public consumption.

We'll get some clues on this latest round of recruiting. If the Hogs don't improve from where they are now, it's probably not going to take a lot of guessing to figure out where the problem is these days. In fact, it's pretty simple because there's a factor Pittman never got to learn in decades of preparing to be a head coach.

It's dollars and cents that don't really make any sense in getting (and keeping) players these days. Which may be the hardest thing to deal with for everybody.

HOGS FEED:

SINGLETON'S MOTHER HINTS AT POSSIBLE TRANSFER TO ONE PLACE SURE TO RILE UP RAZORBACK FANS

WHOPPING LOSS TO MISSOURI LEAVES RAZORBACKS LIMPING INTO OFFSEASON WITH LOTS OF QUESTIONS

RAZORBACKS UPDATE STATUS TRAMON MARK AFTER SERIOUS-LOOKING INJURY IN LOSS TO NORTH CAROLINA

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