It's Hard to Know Why More Talk of Malik Than KJ

Sam Pittman has made it clear from way before fall camp KJ Jefferson was the No. 1 quarterback and that hasn't changed.

But more people are talking about No. 2 Malik Hornsby.

Whether that's by design or just the way things have gone is anybody's guess. The media gets to see about 15-20 minutes of basic drills and Jefferson doesn't do much in those.

What we have seen hasn't been particularly impressive.

Hornsby has shown flashes of doing some things that could really be special. It's the speed that gets your attention.

"There are times Malik will be the fastest guy on the field," Pittman has said in press conferences.

Jefferson is an inch taller (6-foot-3) and 65 pounds heavier (245 to 180). The talk is about how he can run the ball, but having a quarterback as your leading rusher in the SEC usually doesn't work out well.

Hornsby had the best stats in Saturday's scrimmage, including an 80-yard touchdown run where he simply out-ran everybody. Make your own judgement about the Razorbacks' defense after that.

Neither Pittman or offensive coordinator Kendal Briles say anything but positives about Jefferson. But they talk just as much about Hornsby.

It is the buzz among fans and, of course, is one of the key points of discussion on sports talk radio.

Jefferson has started and finished one game for the Hogs and did enough to win the game. It was the defense that collapsed in the end and lost to Missouri.

Everything we've heard is he's getting every chance to have the job, but these days it's not a lifetime appointment.

"I like KJ," Pittman said. "It's so hard when the whistle is so fast on him. He didn't take a lot of sacks. He ran the offense well. I felt like he was accurate today. I think he's starting to feel like he's the man back there, and our team is rallying around him. I thought he had a good day throwing and running the offense."

But it's Hornsby that gets the buzz and Pittman sounds confident in him, too.

"Whenever we get into live games and he’s able to use his feet and somebody’s not tagging him and the play’s down, he’ll be a really good quarterback for us," he said after Hornsby's big scrimmage Saturday.

All of it adds up to we won't know what we don't know until Sept. 4's opener against Rice.

Then we'll all know.