Season in a sentence
It’s hard to overachieve and underachieve at the same time, but somehow Arkansas managed to do just that.
Three Highs
- Found your QB
Taylen Green can be a bonafide star and is an elite athlete. Now, if he could just protect the football like Danny Kanell protects a 2-10 FSU program from objective scrutiny, they’d both be on to something.
- Top 5 win over Tennessee
Arkansas beat No. 4 Tennessee in dramatic fashion giving Hog fans hope and something to celebrate.
- Finished 7-6
Sam Pittman got his third bowl win in the last four years. For the Arkansas fans who wanted him gone, remember that those three wins in bowl games are just one less than Chad Morris had combined in two seasons as your head coach. So, calm down a bit.
Three Lows
- The Oklahoma State loss
The loss to the Cowboys was heartbreaking and almost undeserved because of bad officiating. However, there were plenty of self-inflicted wounds. It would have been great to see how this team—and its fanbase—would have looked and sounded with a 5-1 start and a big non-conference win.
- The LSU game
LSU had one of the worst rushing offenses in the country. The Hogs made Lieutenant Dan look like Forrest Gump.
- Lost to Missouri—again
Arkansas has now lost ten of their last 12 to Missouri. Nobody has lost this much to the state of Missouri since that curly-headed girl Beth and her family in Ozark.
The Offense
It’s difficult to put into words just how big of a difference Bobby Petrino made to this offense. That’s mainly because I struggle with grammar—and words with more than three syllables—and most of my articles are littered with typos like beer bottles in a Texas end zone after a questionable call didn’t go their way.
Arkansas’ offense in 2023 ranked tenth or worse in every single one of the following statistical categories—scoring, rushing offense, passing offense, total offense, yards per play, explosive plays of 20 yards or more, and turnovers lost.
One year later, they ranked in the top five of the SEC in all but two, scoring (7th) and turnovers lost (15th). Petrino has a difference maker at quarterback in Taylen Green and they will most likely be even better in year two with him as the offensive coordinator.
Offensive Grade: A
The Defense
The defense was once again lackluster and finished 13th or worse in the SEC in three of the major four defensive categories. There were times when it was good and made a lot of people believers in defensive coordinator Travis Williams. However, there were so many glaring holes at times and more often than not it seemed like when they needed the defense to step up most it was nowhere to be found.
While they fell in several defensive categories, none were more glaring than the pass defense. The Hogs dropped from fourth to 16th from 2023 to 2024. There were also way too many late lapses, like the Oklahoma State game and then blowing a fourth quarter lead while allowing 18 points in the final 15 minutes against Missouri.
Defensive Grade: C-
Overall Grade
A lot of Arkansas fans clamored for Sam Pittman to be gone after finishing the regular season 6-6. Have some perspective for a second and remember that he’s had three winning seasons in the last four years. The Hogs had three winning seasons in the previous eight years before he arrived in Fayetteville. Arkansas was also projected to win 4.5-to-5.5 games by most oddsmakers, prior to the season. Pittman was able to do that with a new quarterback, a new offensive coordinator, and a top 20 strength of schedule in the country.
There’s room for improvement, but firing Pittman would have been a big mistake.
Overall Season Grade: C+
