Razorbacks May be Hedging Bets with Pittman, Tough Schedule

In front of maybe toughest lineup ever, backup plans apparently starting to save money

Author:
Andy Hodges
Updated:
Jan 15, 2024 5:21 PM EST
Original:
Jan 15, 2024

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — With a schedule that might be the toughest in school history, Arkansas may be trying to save its way to prosperity. Looking at the contract for new wide receivers coach Ronnie Fouch, it had some interesting language in there when media outlets started getting it through the FOI process.

Wording that indicates a second season is only guaranteed if Sam Pittman is still the coach looks like an effort to avoid buyouts for assistant coaches should things fall apart again. Dumping Pittman would be a big enough hit after the big extension he got following a 9-4 season. His comments in press conferences late last season when the heat started rising that his buyout wasn't important him were likely just a coach getting caught up in the moment.

It also may have had to do with looking at the schedule the Razorbacks will be face in the first season of Texas and Oklahoma coming into the league. Since neither has a national title in several years, a lot of people figured it would clutter up the middle of the SEC again.

But then the SEC had Alabama AND Texas in the four-team playoff this past season. Hey, at least the Hogs won't have to play both this coming season, just the Longhorns at probably the worst time of all to meet them if they rise to expectations again.

When Texas and Arkansas used to play big games before the Hogs jumped to the SEC, they were nearly always in the middle of October. The Razorbacks got the Longhorns the week after they played Oklahoma and were able to get a good scouting report and occasionally a team really mad.

That won't happen playing the game in early November. No telling what the weather will be like or what time the game will be played. How things go the rest of the schedule will also determine how many Arkansas fans are in the deer woods or even interested in showing up.

The Hogs will play four teams ranked in the Top 25 in preseason and a couple of others that could be by then, plus a road trip to play Oklahoma State the second week of the season. There's no build-up to when the games start to really matter.

Starting SEC play on the road at Auburn just a couple of weeks after going to Stillwater is bad enough. Playing Auburn, Texas A&M, Tennessee and LSU with one of two bye weeks in there is a rough stretch. There are no breaks in the schedule.

In a way-too-early look at that line-up, let's evaluate the guaranteed wins and losses, meaning everything else is really a toss-up. The whole thing is based on injuries, weather, officials calls, timing and some other things and even who they have on the roster these days.

Likely Wins

UAPB on Aug. 31 in Little Rock (will that trip ever end?), Alabama-Birmingham on Sept. 14 and Louisiana Tech on Nov. 23.

Likely Losses (now on paper)

Oklahoma State on the road Sept. 7 is not a pleasant challenge. The main hope is things develop well for Arkansas in the spring and the Cowboys are going to make a push for something later in the schedule. Tennessee on Oct. 5 and LSU (Oct. 19) will both be in Fayetteville so maybe that helps, but there's no evidence of that recently.

Ole Miss on Nov. 2 and the Longhorns have better talent on the roster right now. By November, who knows, though. Half of any team may be injured, quit or just trying to get to the end of the season.

Key Games Right Now

A road trip to Auburn and the last game at AT&T Stadium against Texas A&M are going to be a huge challenges early. Guessing which LSU team shows up Nov. 19 is always a roll of the dice. Pay attention the Tigers, though. I'm a big Pete Jenkins fan for decades and Brian Kelly has brought him back. He was the adult on Ed Orgeron's staff when they won a national title and about the only person he would listen to. When Pete left, Orgeron followed shortly.

Don't overlook or assume Mississippi State will be a pushover. It may end up being that way, but it is way too early to say anything for sure right now, especially with Jeff Lebby coming in as a new coach. The initial guess is that will feature a lot of points, though.

Then, Missouri at the end on the road usually means the Razorbacks don't want a bowl game appearance on the line. The Hogs have won just twice since the Tigers came into the league.

That alone indicates a problem for Arkansas. Assuming it's going to take a while for teams from the Big 12 to compete when joining the SEC is a fool's errand. It didn't take Mizzou a decade to be competitive. The Tigers won the SEC East in 2013 and 2014, their second and third season.