Patrick Kutas had gone from right tackle to center. Beaux Limmer had gone from center to right guard. Brady Latham had gone from right guard to right tackle. The moves were meant to help Arkansas’ offensive line struggles.
They didn’t.
In fact, things were so poor with the new look that coach Sam Pittman scrapped it and went back to the way things were through the first five games after just one half against Ole Miss.
Arkansas had nine yards rushing in the first half against the Rebels. Quarterback KJ Jefferson was sacked three times. Ole Miss had four more tackles for-loss as the Razorbacks managed a total of 46 yards on their final five drives of the half and trailed 17-7 at the break.
The switch-back worked for 41 yards on the Hogs’ first drive of the second half until Jefferson was sacked for the fourth time. Pittman chose to go for it on 4th-and-7, but Jefferson was forced to call a timeout before the play was snapped. He barked something to his teammates as he walked toward the sideline. When Arkansas returned to the field, Cam Little kicked a 56-yard field goal.
The next drive? Another drive and another score. Then, for good measure, one more as Arkansas took a 20-17 lead in the fourth quarter.
The good didn’t last, though. Ole Miss retook the lead immediately after Arkansas scored and on the ensuing Hogs drive, Rocket Sanders was stuffed for no gain and Jefferson was sacked, resulting in a three-and-out. The Rebels tacked on another field goal and Jefferson, with defenders in his face all night and having to go the distance just to tie, threw an interception with 1:42 left to seal Ole Miss’ win.
“We could not handle the run-throughs and the movement,” coach Sam Pittman said. “They were too quick for us. I thought maybe if we moved Beaux back in the middle, maybe that would calm some things down.”
It did for a while. If you’re a glass-half-full person, the positive step could be carried over in the back half of the season. If you’re a glass-half-empty person, it was just another adjustment that didn’t work well enough.
Six games left to figure out which is reality.