No major wins. No devastating losses. No scandals. No superstars.
Some disappointment. Some minor hot-seat action.
Lots of boredom.
Arkansas football in 2023 isn’t exactly the hottest ticket in town, figuratively. The Razorbacks go through periods in which they earn national attention (Hi, there, Bobby Petrino. Hello, Bret Bielema firing and subsequent disasterous coaching search. Hello, Chad Morris meltdown). Very little of it is good. When it isn’t happening, though, Arkansas is one of the biggest afterthoughts in college football and this season isn’t helping that cause.
Sure, to local angry fan, Joe From Arkadelphia (not a real person, far as we know), Sam Pittman deserves to be fired NOW! To reasonable human beings, that’s laughable. If things keep trending the way they are, that’s a conversation worth having. Athletic director Hunter Yurachek probably would find it in his best interest, too, to have a shortlist of potential candidates in his Google Drive somewhere, too, just in case. But right now, Arkansas is just one game off the pace where we had them projected this year, anyway. Not exactly the mess the torches-and-pitchforks crowd thinks it is.
KJ Jefferson’s season, one in which he was a longshot of a darkhorse candidate for the Heisman Trophy, hasn’t gone as planned. He’s been on the ground far too often to make that a reality.
Rocket Sanders’ quest to reach heights only Darren McFadden and Alex Collins have reached before him has gone sideways thanks to a knee injury and limited results when has been healthy.
The defense has been much improved, countering the underwhelming results of the offense, but also not quite being good enough to lift the Razorbacks to more wins in their 2-3 start.
Nothing about this year’s team draws any water outside of the Natural State’s borders. Basically no one is paying attention. That’s worse than chaos. At least chaos results in a cleansing and a starting over. Arkansas isn’t, despite the heathen belief, chaotic.
The Razorbacks aren’t good. They aren’t terrible. They’re just boring. And, frankly, it’s hard to blame anyone who isn’t paying attention right now.