While Things Look Bleak Now, There's Hope on the Horizon for Hogs

2023 provides first Pittman season to look manageable from outset

Author:
Kent Smith
Updated:
Nov 7, 2022 10:37 PM EST
Original:
Nov 7, 2022

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – While things don't look promising for the Arkansas Razorbacks as the season crawls its way to a close, there is hope on the horizon.

At no point in Sam Pittman's tenure has he had a crack at a normal schedule. But finally, in Year 4, Pittman and his band of merry men will get just that, which is why it's so important to minimize the potential damage of the final three weeks of the season.

The head Hog drew the worst bit of luck a first-year head coach looking to rebuild a decimated program could ever have with an SEC-only Covid schedule that not only featured the usual SEC West gauntlet, but also a Georgia team hitting its national title contender stride.

Season 2 held a little more promise with games against Rice, Georgia Southern and Arkansas Pine Bluff, but with both halves of the national championship game on the schedule, which meant road games against both the SEC champion and the national champion, there was little solace.

There was a bit of a break with softer than nationally expected Texas and Texas A&M teams on the schedule, which gave Pittman the breathing room needed to build momentum while the easier non-conference schedule let starters get more time to recover.

As for this season, there has been no room to breathe. Every week has been a big game.

There was no time for physical or mental recovery. There were no opportunities to get in back-ups who have earned opportunities at playing time and needed in-game development.

It's been a never-ending slog that has worn this team down in every way possible and appears to have done legitimate damage to quarterback KJ Jefferson.

But 2023 represents Pittman's best opportunity as a head coach.

There are chinks in the Alabama armor. Texas A&M is in free fall.

Whoever takes over at Auburn will need time. Ole Miss may find itself without a coach.

Instead of starting the season with a College Football Playoff semifinalist, an SEC game and a grudge match, the Hogs get Western Carolina, Kent State and a home return game against newly minted Big 12 member BYU.

The Hogs get LSU early, which may be the best time to catch what may be a national championship contender. They then get A&M just before the Aggies have to face off against Alabama and Tennessee.

The back portion of the season sets itself up for a big run. The Hogs wrap up October with a home game against a Mississippi State team that struggles on the road and tends to fall apart in the middle of the season.

That is followed by a Florida team that will still be adjusting personnel to fit Billy Napier's system facing an Arkansas team with two weeks to heal up and get ready.

The Hogs then get three home games against what's left of this year's Auburn team, Florida International, and a Missouri team that may no longer have a coach to close the season.

If talent can align with opportunity, it could be the Razorbacks' most successful season in a decade.

There's just the matter of walking through the darkness of what is left of this season before the sun rises once again on hope in Arkansas.