Inexperienced Players Reached Far Beyond Hogs' Offensive Line This Past Season

Pittman mindful of whether experienced gained on field in SEC play may have destroyed confidence of some of his Arkansas Razorbacks

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Dec 22, 2023 10:59 AM EST

In this story:

Arkansas Razorbacks

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A lot has been made about the number of freshmen Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman tried to plug in along the offensive line.

It created issues for the Razorbacks all season long. However, what also got overlooked was the lack of experience at wide receiver.

This was partially because the players who logged most of the playing time came in off solid seasons statistically. For instance, Isaac TeSlaa joined Arkansas coming off a year with 68 catches for 1,325 and 13 touchdowns. However, much like his position counterparts, he lacked experience against Power Five defenders, much less SEC caliber defensive backs.

TeSlaa, Tyrone Broden, Andrew Armstrong and Isaiah Sategna all hand a handful of catches against Power Five competition between the whole lot. Unfortunately, the problems with the offensive line and effective play design limited development and true opportunities to gain full experience over the course of the season.

"I don't think that Arkansas has seen the talent that we really have at wideout because we just didn't have time to get the ball to them to be perfectly honest with you," Arkansas coach Sam Pittman told 103.7 "The Buzz" in a recorded interview Friday morning. "On the O-line, I like who we have. I know we didn't have a very good year there. But, I like the kids on the team. We just need some older guys so they can fight for position and they'll have a spring to battle out a position with someone who has been on the field in the SEC or the Big Ten ... We'll find out about our receivers, because I feel like we have really good receivers, we'll find out more about them when we can protect the quarterback better.".

Between TeSlaa, Armstrong and Broden, the three saw a combined 1,627 fewer yards and 23 less touchdowns than they combined for last season. That simply comes with the adjustment to playing at a higher level.

TeSlaa: 34 Rec. / 351 yards
Armstrong: 56 Rec. / 764
Broden: 15 Rec. / 109
Sategna: 15 Rec. / 129

In addition, the tight end position was anchored by freshmen. Luke Hasz came on strong as a true freshman. When he was healthy, he led everyone in the passing game with 16 catches for 253 yards and three touchdowns. Unfortunately, he did make it out of September, breaking his collar bone early in the game against Texas A&M.

In his place, Ty Washington made a name for himself. In slightly over three games as a starter, Washington hauled in 11 catches for 170 yards and two touchdowns before a separated shoulder against Florida required season-ending surgery.

That's six players who should improve dramatically next season through the benefit of experience, better offensive line play and a stronger game plan. That alone will theoretically move the needle on that side of the ball in a positive direction.

At the very least, if each of those players can remain healthy, it should be worth seven points per game. That was the difference in five games this past year that resulted in losses. That is so long as all that time spent gaining experience on the offensive line and out wide didn't destroy anyone' s mentality.

"The experience helps you big time as long as you don't lose your confidence," Pittman said. "You can play somebody too fast. You can. And he loses confidence. You could see that a little bit with some of our young kids. I remember my dad told me, ya know, I had a freshman that was a really good player, and he said, 'Now look, you can ruin this kid playing him too much against these 18-year-old kids, knocking the hell out of him. He's a good player and all that, so just be mindful that he cant take this pounding that an 18-year-old when he's 15 because you're gonna lose the confidence and it's hard to get back."

Whether any of the players lost confidence won't truly be known until practices crank up this spring. It will be just one of a long list of reasons this may be the most closely watched set of spring practices for the Razorbacks in a long time.