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Evaluating what there is of slow start to Hogs transfer portal season

Arkansas Razorbacks facing old problems in first recruiting season under Silverfield
Kent Smith|
Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback KJ Jackson (7) attempts a pass in the first quarter as Texas A&M Aggies defensive end Cashius Howell (9) defends at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback KJ Jackson (7) attempts a pass in the first quarter as Texas A&M Aggies defensive end Cashius Howell (9) defends at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

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Arkansas Razorbacks

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It's another portal season, there's another coach at the helm, yet all the clues indicate the same goings on behind the scenes are in place, which means there's little reason to expect much in the way of change on the field for the Razorbacks.

Just a few days into the transfer portal window and one thing that is abundantly clear is Arkansas coach Ryan Silverfield is already having to watch his pennies in a fashion similar to what was seen with previous head coach Sam Pittman.

That was because a very specific set of boosters were set on being the reason Pittman was capped at seven to eight wins most seasons rather being why the previous regime was able to win in double digit fashion each year.

Unlike at Texas Tech and Indiana, it seems the Hogs have a particular set of boosters who get more of an ego boost out of being why the program is underperforming rather than why it's succeeding.

Because of this, portal watching has been more of a lesson in typical Arkansas penny pinching rather than a steady trickle of inspiration that for once the football team will be watchable in late November.

The portal is still open for a while with a handful of game changing players still on the board, so maybe that will change, but with each passing day, that becomes unlikely.

So, all that can be evaluated is what has been accomplished so far.

Biggest fish

This is a hard one because there really isn't a big fish as of yet. The list consists of a large amount of small school players who are all rated roughly the same.
(*As this story was submitted for potential publication around 11 a.m., Arkansas got a defensive line commit from USC who clearly couldn't be evaluated for story purposes.)

The only player who has Power Four experience is safety Christian Harrison who logged solid time while starting with Cincinnati in the Big 12. He came away with 66 tackles this past season, including 40 solos.

The good news is Harrison is rather consistent. He doesn't appear to get too high or low regardless of level of opponent. His two biggest days were a 10-tackle showing against No. 14 Iowa State and a similar output against then No. 24 Utah.

However, when it comes to actually putting on the tape, it doesn't quite align with the stats.

There are a few moments where Harrison puts his hands on a player after the tackle is basically done, which may have given him tackle credits, but the first two times he stands out on video is when he takes a bad angle against Utes running back Devon Dampier before the big back easily runs through his weak arm tackle attempt for an easy touchdown.

In fact, the first time this happened, the announcers specifically called him out for poor tackling on the back end.

His arm tackling habits in the running game would come back to haunt him again later. Harrison not only missed the tackle, but got called for a face mask as the running back ran through his attempt once again.

That set up a touchdown where the Utes intentionally ran directly at him and plowed through him with a blocker who planted Harrison flat on his back for the touchdown.

Unfortunately for Harrison, the one time he did show proper form tackling, Utah's Creed Whittemore broke through three Cincinnati defenders and then drug Harrison into the end zone for the touchdown, making it the fourth touchdown of the game that went Harrison's way to no avail.

The one high point was when he followed the quarterback's eyes and easily tracked down a wide open interception a the goal line.

Just keep swimming

When it comes to fish expected to be left in the pond, Memphis running back Sutton Smith tops the list.

Either the Razorbacks are getting stiff-armed left and right by even average running backs or he must be one heck of a guy in the room for Silverfield to bring him on board.

Of course, a lot of Arkansas fans are probably confused. In their minds, Smith is a dominant force set to take over the SEC because their scope persists of a single 150 yard rushing game on 12 carries against the Razorbacks.

However, a step back not only clarifies just exactly how atrocious that Hogs defense was, but how woefully unprepared for the SEC Smith is at the moment.

The Razorbacks were not only bad on defense at an SEC level, they were embarrassingly awful on an all conferences of Division I level.

That not only was Smith's season high by a mile, that performance accounted for nearly a fourth of his 668 yards of rushing production for the season.

The 1,058 all-purpose yards looks like a bid deal until fans realize 40% of that is kick-off returns, punt returns and the Arkansas game. He played in 11 other games.

That's why it was supposed to be so important Silverfield is evaluating these players instead of Arkansas fans. There was an expectation of trust that he's going out and getting the best athletes rather than doing personal favors for old friends.

Florida Atlantic, Tulsa, UAB, Rice, Tulane, Navy and South Florida combined to give up well less than half the same amount of yards to Smith that the Razorbacks defense allowed that day. Against those seven AAC teams, he produced 67 yards on 37 carries.

That's an average of 9.6 yards per game. Not per carry.
Per game.

Against almost the entire AAC roster, Smith put up 1.8 yards per carry. How Silverfield honestly looked at that production and thought he had someone who should take up a scholarship at an SEC program is a little baffling.

His one selling point is he might be usable on special teams, but so was Kam Shanks and his speed proved to be easily matched by SEC level special teams, so it's not the greatest sole reason to take a player on.

However, it's been done. There is no changing it, so it's now up to Smith to have the greatest offseason in his life so he can prove he can do against the likes of Georgia, Texas, Texas A&M and LSU what he couldn't against Group of Five defenses — run.

Throwing large fish back

While Arkansas has had a few baffling moves, Texas may have put together an even bigger head scratcher. The one experiment that clearly needed to be over was that of Ian Geffrard along the offensive line.

In college football mass can only go so far. Geffrard worked hard to get his weight down below 400, but the one thing that was painfully clear was that at no point in time did he ever have to learn how to tackle.

Throughout high school, his girth made is possible for him to lean on guys and they would simply fall from the sheer weight crushing down upon them. However, college is a much different story.

Running backs are smashing it on the squat racks, even at the lower levels.

That's why when Geffard occasionally found a running back happened to wander into his arms, because he lacked the speed and footwork for it to happen through skill, he often found himself going for a ride rather than coming away with an impressive tackle.

So many times running backs hitched the defensive lineman to their backs and kept plodding forward for big gains.

Perhaps the example of this Arkansas fans remember most is when Memphis back-up quarterback Arrington Maiden carried Geffrard 11 yards on 3rd & 8 with 1:06 left to seal the upset over the Hogs.

Had Geffrard simply moved out of the way and let literally anyone else attempt to make a play,

Pittman at least lasts a few more games and the Hogs possibly slide into another Liberty Bowl level game to end the season, although probably with a similar result on the coaching search front.

Why Texas chose to use money to bring in Geffrard is mind blowing. That just lets fans know how much more money is available in Austin to simply burn for the fun of it than is available in Arkansas.

Even more mind-boggling is the national media calling Geffrard a standout player. He certainly stood out, but only as a player the Razorbacks needed to part ways with at the end of the season.

Small moves, bigger hidden payoffs

There are two moves that might go with little fanfare if nothing bad happens as a result, allowing them to have positive impacts on next season. The first is the signing of AJ Hill.

Hill is a high pedigree quarterback who knows Silverfield's offense. He was among the highest signees ever at Memphis.

So long as it doesn't cause presumed starter KJ Jackson, who is more than ready to take the reins against SEC defenses after what he displayed against Texas and Missouri last season, to bolt for the portal to lead another SEC school to its max potential, then it's a good move.

It provides Arkansas the quarterback of the future and simultaneously a highly serviceable back-up, which is one of the more valuable commodities available. Jackson can help Hill learn how to navigate the SEC while Hill helps Jackson with the ins and outs of Silverfield's offense.

It also creates a battle between a pair of players who are likely competitive and willing to push one another without having to worry about a second portal sucking one of them out the door come April.

Meanwhile, Arkansas brought in a pair of kickers this weekend, the most noteworthy of whom is Tennessee kicker Max Gilbert.

Unfortunately for Razorbacks fans, that means the departure of the highly-touted Scott Starzyk, whom most of the Hogs faithful thought would evolve into the next Cam Little with a season of experience under his belt.

Silverfield didn't see it that way. What he saw was the chance to bring in a kicker with an extra year of SEC experience with similar stats who, based on reports, checks in at a little less on the ledger sheet.

The perception is the Hogs took more experience and same production at a cheaper price, which should be a win for Arkansas provided Starzyk somehow doesn't improve.

It's never a good sign to be trying to sqeeze nickels at the field goal kicker position when talking about an SEC football budget, but maybe it's just enough to swing a player who makes a difference in a win or two at some point in the 2026 season.

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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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