Arkansas football has risen under coach Sam Pittman. The question is when the waters will crest.
Lindy’s college football preview magazine is on newsstands and inside anonymous SEC coaches dish on their fellow teams in the league. According to one such coach, the Razorbacks have impressed, but have their work cut out for them in making another jump.
“The next step is the hardest step to take in the SEC. Going from 8-4 to 10,11,12 wins is a harder step than going from three wins to eight. It really is,” the coach told Lindy’s.
Arkansas went from consecutive 2-10 seasons under Chad Morris in 2018 and 2019 to 3-7 with Pittman in the COVID-shortened 2020 season. It didn’t seem like much of a jump numbers-wise, but all three wins were in league play whereas Morris didn’t have a single SEC win.
Last year, the Hogs had their most successful season since 2011, going 9-4 and beating Penn State in the final Outback Bowl. With what Arkansas returns, it’s possible, perhaps even likely, the Razorbacks will ranked inside the Top 25 to start the season.
The schedule is daunting. Besides the usual SEC West gauntlet, Arkansas hosts Cincinnati (which has lost one, one, three and two games the last four years), gets what’s sure to be an emotional return of Bobby Petrino from Missouri State, and travels to Brigham Young in October.