Hogs Must Decide This Week Whether They Want to be Taken Seriously

Luck helps inferior teams pull upsets, but does Arkansas have mentality it takes to move beyond needing such things?

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Sep 27, 2022 6:09 PM EDT

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On Saturday night at the Dallas Cowboys' AT&T Stadium, there was a team on the field that was significantly better than the other.

And it lost.

The Arkansas Razorbacks got a close-up look at how an inferior opponent can take down a Top 10 team. Having a lucky break literally fall into a lesser team's hands at an opportune time trumps better talent nearly every time.

It's how upsets are made.

The spin of the ball on a snap to a quarterback, holder or punter can provide the freak moment needed.

This Saturday Arkansas will be the lesser team on the field by a thin margin. Alabama is stronger in the secondary and has more depth pretty much everywhere except receiver and running back.

Dominique Johnson-Outback Bowl — Matt Pendleton/USA TODAY Sports

If the Hogs are to win, they will need a bit of luck on their side. They may not need to be as extreme as Saturday's "Jump Six" situation or an inexplicable flub like Auburn needed to beat Missouri, but the ball is going to have to bounce the Razorbacks' way more often than not.

The other ingredient to this recipe comes from a near loss to a team slightly better than Texas A&M – Missouri State.

Again the opponent was outmatched on the field, but found a way to keep it close to the end in hopes luck would intervene and hand-deliver a win. The Bears had a fearless determination that made for a terrifying night for Sam Pittman and his team.

Alabama is the still the same team that nearly embarrassed itself and the entire league with a close call against Texas. There is never a need to fear a team that can't slam the Longhorns into a corner and make them quit by halftime.

This is also essentially the same team Arkansas nearly beat in Tuscaloosa last year while having much better receivers for Bryce Young to work with. If anything, it should be Alabama that feels a little fear.

The Tide are traveling halfway across the country to get locked in a cage with a wounded boar. Anyone who has ever happened across a wild hog knows that's not a desirable position to be in.

There was a time when multi-Heisman runner-up Darren McFadden walked around carrying a chunk of lumber encouraging his teammates to "bring that wood." After Saturday, this Arkansas team should be looking for wood, skillets fresh off the burner, pipes, sledgehammers and even old VHS tapes if that's all that's laying around.

The mentality shouldn't be to sit around and whine and point fingers about Saturday. That loss can't be changed.

However, this should be a team that is fuming. Foam should be pouring from their mouths and the sight of just about anything should make them want to punch something.

If this team's priorities and focus are in the right place, the players should want to pound Alabama into the ground and keep pounding them until they're covered by a mountain of rubble. Nick Saban should have to throw in the towel to get them to stop and even then the police should have to swarm the field to hold these players back.

Jordan Domineck-Missouri State — Arkansas Razorbacks defensive lineman Jordan Domineck sacks Missouri State quarterback Jordan Shelley at their game Saturday night at Razorback Stadium. (Nelson Chenault / allHOGS Images)

If their mindset is anything short of that, there will be no statements made. It will be another ho-hum win by Alabama on their way to more important things.

This Saturday was supposed to be a heavyweight title fight. That all went away in Arlington.

But if this program thinks it deserves that kind of respect, then it's time to put everything else aside and prove it.

Develop a mean streak and make people wish Arkansas was never on the schedule.

Otherwise, there's no need to utter words like Alabama, Georgia or national championship around here. Instead, settle for words like Mississippi, Texas, boot and battle line.

Keep having to rely on luck to win on the scoreboard against teams that matter.

Be a B+ player.

After all, that's the best people outside the state lines ever expect this program to be.

Rise up or settle.

Turn fury on Alabama or one another.

That's the decision the players in that locker room have to make and no one else.

And they better make it soon. Clock's ticking.