Sooner or Later, You Knew Game Like This Coming

Now Sam Pittman has to deal with worst problem possible and has to make fans care

Author:
Andy Hodges
Publish date:
Nov 12, 2023 9:00 AM EST

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas coach Sam Pittman now faces the biggest problem a coach can face. Forget the offensive coordinator chaos (they still may not have the right guy) or the defensive coordinator. When the fans lose interest, you're done. That's apathy, which simply means nobody really cares about you anymore.

That defense that has been getting a lot of credit for being better than last year finally broke into pieces. Yes, they were doing better, but they weren't that great. Don't use last year as much of a gauge because that bar was so low. This team doesn't deserve to be in a bowl game, losing 7-of-8.

Nobody is calling for Pittman to be fired at midfield at the end of the game. There's been a couple of guys in the last decade I thought that should have happened with. Athletics director Hunter Yurachek made his decision, backed him up this week in a public appearance and now has himself in an awkward spot.

There was an announced attendance of over 72,000 for that 48-10 fiasco at Razorback Stadium on Saturday afternoon, but there were some pretty big gaps of empty seats. Tickets were available all across the state because folks were calling me trying to give their seats away. I even began to wonder if they knew something I didn't.

Trajan Jeffcoat and Isaac TeSlaa were the only two players they could finally come out to talk with the media after the game. The biggest problem for a lot of fans turned out to be watching some movie at halftime that didn't look to be the type you'd expect a team getting kicked sideways, 27-3, to be acting. There was also the demeanor of the team coming off the field after the game. Players being light-hearted is not what anyone wants to see after that.

This is some dangerous territory for coaches and even administrators having anything to do with the football program. The offense was pathetic. They put up just 255 yards and 64 of it came on a single run by backup quarterback Jacolby Criswell. The three running backs accounted for just 6 yards.

The defense didn't do better. They were downright pitiful, making the Tigers offense look completely invincible. When Auburn played their best game of the year, the Razorbacks played their worst. The Hogs' defense gave up a shocking 517 yards and looked more inept that any defense has in years.

Steve Sullivan of KATV in Little Rock may have summed it up best in an X post right after the game. It was short, simple and stunningly accurate for a fan base that started booing at halftime and what was left later didn't give up.

We may look back in a few weeks and point to this game. It's certainly put Pittman's program at a crucial point. There won't be a bowl game to hang any hat on. After getting nine wins in 2021 with a bunch of "super seniors" that performed above their ranking, Pittman had question marks last year with all the people that left the program. The guys that replaced them didn't appear to be as good.

Now they may have been exposed. Something has not looked right with this team since during spring practice. The hope was it was a disconnect with the offensive coordinator. The reality apparently goes a lot deeper. Nothing hurts credibility more than not appearing to really care, despite what words are spewing out.

They appeared all during Saturday's game to have a massive disinterest. The Hogs played like they really were going through the motions. Maybe the worst thing was nobody else on the field really seemed to care, either. Many of the fans apparently felt the same way, leaving very early.

Now Pittman faces the biggest issue he's had to deal with in his four years — apathy. He may say he's not concerned about his job, but Yurachek probably is very concerned about it. How it plays out over the next few weeks could be very, very interesting.