Like It or Not, This One's on Sam

Numerous questionable decisions cost Arkansas Razorbacks much needed win

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Nov 12, 2022 5:31 PM EST

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – It may not be something Arkansas fans want to hear, but the 13-10 loss to LSU is 100% on Razorback head coach Sam Pittman.

For the second week in a row, Arkansas squandered a quality performance from its defense. However, the most glaring instance of this came in the first quarter.

Latavious Brini, who came up with an interception on LSU's opening drive, was able to jump on a Jayden Daniels fumble at the Arkansas 10-yard line to set the Razorbacks up for a second score.

Sam Pittman-LSU — Arkansas Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman celebrates Saturday at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. (Ted McClenning / allHOGS)

However, after the Razorback offense managed just seven yards on the drive with no indications the Hogs could rip off three yards in a pressure situation, Pittman decided to keep one of America's best kickers on the bench instead of letting him come in for a chip-shot field goal.

The fourth down play resulted in quarterback Malik Hornsby stumbling onto his face for no gain, allowing the wave of momentum Arkansas had established on the efforts of its defense to come crashing down.

Those three points that held no value for Pittman turned out to be the difference in the game.

However, there was another similar decision that not only cost Arkansas the tie, it essentially cost the Razorbacks the win.

With 7:16 left in the third quarter, Arkansas faced a 4th & 2 at midfield. Nothing had happened prior to convince anyone that Hornsby was going to throw an accurate pass or get the edge. He had missed open receivers and LSU's Harold Perkins had proven he's the faster player in pads many times over.

Yet, instead of punting and keeping LSU pinned deep to continue winning the field position battle, Pittman elected to go for it yet again. The result was Hornsby sprinting right and then falling unceremoniously onto his backside for a 12-yard loss at the Arkansas 40.

The burst of momentum was all LSU needed to generate the Tigers' lone drive of the game. Jayden Daniels, who was shut down in every way possible by the Arkansas defense, hit his only big pass of the game, a 26-yard pass over the middle to a tightly covered Kayshon Boutte a yard short of the goal line.

Arkansas gave up the final yard and the Razorbacks were down 13-3, which might as well have been 100 in a slog of a game like this.

The other two big decisions have to do with quarterback.

When Pittman made the call to start an injured KJ Jefferson last week instead of giving him the time needed to heal up, he took away his best shot at winning this game.

Perhaps the head Hog was in the same camp as the 80% of bettors who bet against the Razorbacks at the local casinos this week in thinking Arkansas didn't have a chance against LSU. Maybe he looked at the schedule and thought an injured Jefferson against Liberty was his only chance at a win over the last four games.

KJ Jefferson-Liberty — Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback KJ Jefferson comes up just short of getting the call on a two-point conversion attempt with 1:11 to play in a 21-19 loss to the Liberty Flames on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022, at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. (Ted McClenning / allHOGS Images)

Whatever the thought process, if Jefferson is able to heal up last week so he can go this week, this game may very well be a blowout. Play after play, when things went wrong, it was easy to imagine the attributes that Jefferson brings to the table being enough to turn a bad play into a positive play.

The He-Man game thrown up by Harold Perkins definitely takes on a different light if he's trying to pull down the raging bull that is Jefferson instead of the 185-pound Hornsby.

The second quarterback decision in question was to start Hornsby over Cade Fortin. Arkansas fans want Hornsby to be great with every ounce of their being, but it just isn't going to happen.

Hornsby is an elite SEC talent. However, he is not an elite SEC quarterback.

His 15 yards passing in the first half should be enough proof of that if the mountain of previous evidence didn't suffice.

Pittman has had numerous opportunities to see that the game is too big for Hornsby behind center. That being said, Hornsby should have been on the field for most of the game, just not behind center.

As soon as Fortin got onto the field, it was easy to see the gap between the two quarterbacks. While the transfer is no Jefferson, he was more than enough to move the team consistently, which would have been more than enough to come away with the win.

Arkansas quarterback Cade Fortin rushes against the LSU Tigers. — Razorbacks quarterback Cade Fortin (10) rushes in the third quarter against the LSU Tigers at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. LSU won 13-10. (Nelson Chenault – USA TODAY Sports)

This was the Hogs' best chance to get to a bowl game and it didn't happen.

This game outlines two things that need to happen in the offseason:

1) Arkansas has to put a lot more effort in recruiting quarterbacks. If this coaching staff can't get a steady stream of quality quarterbacks walking through the door, then this team falls to the cellar as soon as Jefferson walks out the door.

Yes, there is hope that Malichi Singleton might be productive when he finally gets to Fayetteville, but where's the next target? Where's the target that should have been pushing for the back-up job this year?

Not only does he have to try to hold this recruiting class together, but he has to do the best recruiting job of his lifetime. Depth at quarterback is simply a must.

2) College head coaches aren't shy about the fact they go pick the brains of other coaches, especially less experienced head coaches. If Pittman is going to ask his players to put in tons of extra work, it would be good to see a great deal of effort in the offseason to pick as many quality brains as possible in preparation for next season.

Time down on the lake is nice, but there's just going to have to be less of it this year if Pittman wants to avoid landing himself on the hot seat after next season.