Razorback Fans Should be Wary of Overconfidence

Bumper Pool knows firsthand what Bears QB Jason Shelley can do, Hog fans know what Petrino can do as well

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Sep 15, 2022 11:25 AM EDT

In this story:

Arkansas Razorbacks

OK. Let's get this over with.

Bobby Petrino was a highly successful coach at Arkansas. Check.

He ran his motorcycle off a road, lied about having his mistress on it, and left the Razorbacks in the incapable hands of John L. Smith. Check.

Petrino gave his mistress a job she was nowhere near the most qualified to receive, putting the university into potential legal trouble. Check.

Now that the required postings for writing a Petrino story in Arkansas are out of the way, let's move on to something that actually matters.

Arkansas fans seem a little too confident and comfortable talking blowout when it comes to Petrino's Missouri State Bears. It'd mind-boggling considering what just happened to Texas A&M, Notre Dame and Nebraska.

Also, Razorback fans are a little ahead of pace. Only one season separates this program from 20 straight SEC losses, and only one injury stands in the way of falling back into SEC purgatory again.

If KJ Jefferson goes down, no matter the team, if it's early enough in the game, it automatically becomes a 50-50 proposition at best. The next great hope at quarterback for Arkansas is in Georgia trying to focus on getting ready for a math test while plotting the best way to ask a certain girl to the homecoming dance.

This secondary is also one Petrino coached Jason Shelley away from potentially giving up a lot of points, placing the Hogs in an unforeseen shootout. Having watched Shelley in high school, it is easy to confirm that he shouldn't be anywhere near an FCS school.

Don't want to take my word for it, then ask Bumper Pool if you happen to run into him. He spent a fall night his senior year at the Dallas Cowboys headquarters in Frisco, Texas watching Shelley lob bomb after bomb over his head while there was nothing he could do about it.

The future Utah turned Utah State turned Missouri State quarterback threw for 262 yards on 13-of-18 passing and ran for another 101 while posting 41 points in the first half en route to a 62-31 blowout that wasn't nearly that close.

The Walter Payton Award [FCS Heisman] candidate has deadly accuracy on deep balls over the middle.

Arkansas has struggled on deep routes. Fortunately, so far quarterbacks have forgotten how to throw more than 15 yards downfield against the Razorbacks, missing a parade of wide open touchdowns.

That is unlikely to happen with Shelley.

On paper it should be an easy week for Arkansas. It's a night game in Fayetteville between a Top 10 Power 5 school and an FCS program.

The gut just says this is going to be closer than it should be. It would still be shocking to see Arkansas lose, but if Petrino guides Shelley to another five touchdowns like he produced last week, fans hoping to hit Dixon Street early will need to stay put.

Arkansas is a highly ranked program, and unlike last year where beating a pair of overhyped Texas schools drove Arkansas too high up the rankings before Georgia course corrected everything, this time it feels legit.

However, while Arkansas isn't in the "So glad Arkansas finally managed to beat SMU" era that highlighted the early days of Houston Nutt's tenure, the program hasn't quite earned the status of Georgia Bulldog confidence when a team swoops into town.

If things are still at perfection when November rolls around, it might be time to upgrade Arkansas fans to first class. However, until then, business class is a nice fit.

And business class means being wary of a Petrino coached team no matter how hard it is to not give in and feel overconfident. Otherwise, you become the next Texas A&M, and no self-respecting fan with a Twitter account wants anywhere near that after last week.