Seat warms for Arkansas coach Sam Pittman, with hopes of fixes on defense and new faces on offense

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Sam Pittman acknowledges what he faces heading into the 2024 season, his fifth as Arkansas football coach. Another year like the last and he likely will no longer carry that title in December.

The Razorbacks are coming off a 4-8 season with a 1-7 record in the Southeastern Conference. It was the team’s fourth season in the last seven in which they won just one SEC game. A big reason Pittman is getting another shot is that he led Arkansas to 9-4 and 7-6 records the previous two years. Those two seasons, combined with the good vibes created shortly after Chad Morris’ two 2-10 seasons, bought some good will.

Those two quality seasons now feel like forever ago, partly because the Razorbacks lost five one-score games last season.

Pittman believes that can change.

“I really like this team, and I think with the culture and the tightness of the team, I think you can win those games a little bit easier than if it’s the other way,” he said.

Petrino’s back

Former head coach Bobby Petrino has returned to Fayetteville. His stint as head coach ended ignominiously in 2011 after a motorcycle wreck and subsequent scandal involving a female staffer. His public-image rehabilitation tour started in 2013 at Western Kentucky and has seen him make stops at Louisville, Missouri State, UNLV, Texas A&M and now back where things went awry, this time as offensive coordinator.

“Not only do I think he’s a wonderful offensive coordinator, he also was a very successful head coach,” Pittman said. “So there is a lot of times where I’m able to run things by him and we decide collectively at times what is best for the University of Arkansas football team.”

Fix-it list

Arkansas will be better if its offensive line doesn’t exhibit the same sieve-like tendencies it did last year. Razorbacks quarterbacks were sacked 47 times, the sixth-most allowed in the Bowl Subdivision. Run blocking was little better as Arkansas’ 139 yards per game ranked 89th.

Three new likely starters have come via the transfer portal, and five of the 10 players on the depth chart across the five spots on the line are new to the team this season. In fact, new faces are a theme across nearly the whole roster.

Two new faces to know

Former Boise State quarterback Taylen Green will replace KJ Jefferson, who transferred to UCF. Green spent most of the last two seasons as the Broncos starter, though he threw for fewer than 2,000 yards with 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions last season. Still, Pittman decided last spring the newcomer will be Arkansas’ starter.

When he isn’t passing, Green will likely be handing the ball most often to Ja’Quinden Jackson, a transfer from Utah. Jackson led the Utes with 797 yards rushing last year while splitting duties with Jaylon Glover.

Low expectations?

Even with Petrino’s return and some personnel changes, the Razorbacks were picked 14th in the expanded 16-team Southeastern Conference. Pittman is embracing the pressure.

“Our expectations are as high as they’ve ever been for this season coming up,” he said.

The schedule

The Razorbacks don’t have to SEC juggernauts Alabama or Georgia on the schedule but still face seven teams ranked in preseason AP Top 25. That includes away games against No. 17 Oklahoma State (Sept. 7), No. 20 Texas A&M (Sept. 28) and No. 11 Missouri (Nov. 30) but the rest are at home: Tennessee, LSU, Ole Miss and Texas. Arkansas opens the season in Little Rock against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Aug. 29.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football