Major Reshuffling for Razorbacks' O-Line Ahead of Ole Miss

After poor performance against A&M, Sam Pittman hints some changes are coming

Author:
Daniel Shi
Publish date:
Oct 2, 2023 10:36 PM EDT

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Five weeks of mediocrity means that even Sam Pittman has had enough. Vaunted as one of the top offensive line coaches in the country, it is surprising to many to see the Razorbacks' offensive line as the team's weakest link.

Pittman teased some changes in his noon presser Monday. The positions along the line may look drastically different against Ole Miss, which turned out to be exactly what happened at practice later.

"We're going to look at some different scenarios up front," Pittman said. "There's a difference in panic and really reviewing what we're trying to do and who is trying to do it. So, we may shake up the offensive line a little bit."

At practice things were indeed drastically different. For one, Pittman spent almost the entirety of the time that media was there watching over the offensive line despite saying earlier in the day that he had little to no on-the-field input with the position group, instead deferring to offensive line coach Cody Kennedy.

"On the field, not a tremendous amount (of input) on the field," Pittman said. "Off the field … We’ve got a great offensive line coach. The same one that we had when we led the Power 5 in rushing two years ago and the same one that everybody tries to get when the season’s over with."

Although the five linemen remained the same, the positions that they were playing were not the same. The Beaux Limmer experiment at center is on pause after just five games. Limmer transitioned to center after playing the previous seasons almost exclusively at right guard. In a new twist, he was seen at left guard Monday. Fellow senior Brady Latham moved from left guard to right tackle. Sophomore Patrick Kutas went from right tackle to center. The other two linemen (Josh Braun and Devon Manuel/Andrew Chamblee) stayed in their respective positions, right guard and left tackle.

Pittman remained adamant that this group of six with Chamblee and Manuel splitting time at left tackle is their best group of linemen on the roster.

"I think we have the guys," Pittman said. "The five best. I don’t know that we have them in the correct position. We may. But I think we’re going to look at some of that changing to maybe help them. Maybe simplify it. Maybe put them by an older guy that can help them, communicate with them."

The offensive linemen will look to give up fewer sacks after allowing quarterback KJ Jefferson to be sacked seven times against Texas A&M. The game against the Ole Miss Rebels starts 6:30 p.m. October 7 in Oxford, Miss. at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The game can be streamed on SEC Network and fuboTV .