Saturday’s Week 4 game between Arkansas and LSU feels like a funeral.
The two teams have yet to kick off from Baton Rouge and yet in Fayetteville and throughout the Natural State, the air is heavy. It shouldn’t be, but this is college football in the United States. That’s kind of the way it goes.
The Tigers are 2-1 with 21-point loss to Florida State on their resume. Yet LSU fans aren’t clamoring for the death knell.
The Razorbacks are 2-1 with a 7-point loss to Brigham Young and you would think the program was falling apart at the seams the way fans have (over)reacted.
It’s true that Arkansas has not looked great in any of its three games. Even the season-opening 56-13 win against Western Carolina was, by most accounts, ordinary considering the Catamounts status as FCS cellar-dweller. But the crazies have talked of having coach Sam Pittman’s proverbial head with one loss and three straight bowl bids. A fourth is still possible.
By the way, the last time Arkansas had four straight bowl bids was from 1998 to 2003 when Houston Nutt, who was also unceremoniously booted from his spot, took the Hogs to six.
LSU enters the game Saturday as 18-point favorites at home, which seems accurate. An Arkansas victory is feasible considering the talent the Hogs have. A loss is more likely and such a defeat would almost certainly make those calls for Pittman’s job even louder.
There is hope, though. Arkansas has had more success in Baton Rouge than it has had in Fayetteville. And the years when Arkansas looks like it can’t beat the Tigers have sometimes been the years it actually has.
What are we saying? Well, we aren’t hollering for Pittman’s job, anyway.