Malik Hornsby played well against Mississippi State, throwing for 234 yards and rushing for 114 yards, but it doesn’t count as a start.
Instead, Cade Fortin was named the starter, but his 5th career start ended with only six passing attempts and a lot of confusion about why he was in the starting lineup from the Arkansas fan base and media after the Razorbacks lost to Mississippi State, 40-17, on Saturday.
“Fortin basically in practice had won that job,” head coach Sam Pittman said about the quarterback decision. “(He) Had a really good week. Certainly, there’s a difference between playing somebody’s first team and our scout team. Our scout team is a little depleted right now with all our injuries.”
The offense looked lost when Fortin was on the field, and once Hornsby made the big run in the first quarter, it left Pittman and the rest of his staff no choice but to make the switch.
“We weren’t disappointed in Cade,” Pittman said. “Malik had brought us a spark throwing and running. That was the decision going into that before the game.”
KJ Jefferson was suited up but only as a decoy, never once looking like he would enter the game. Pittman decided to keep the details of his injury disclosed, and we’re not sure if he will be available for next week’s trips to BYU though Pittman said he hoped to get his starter cleared as soon as Sunday.
If Jefferson is unavailable, it will be interesting to see if Hornsby gets the nod as the starter during the week.
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