Don’t expect of a lot in the way of preparing you for insight into what to expect out of Arkansas in the first game Saturday against Georgia.
Your guess this year is really as good as ours.
The media hasn’t been able to see anything approaching meaningful in fall camp and with Sam Pittman rotating players to give them as much of a chance as possible in a time when medical issues can cause a game of musical chairs at any time we really don’t have a solid depth chart until Monday.
About the best positive news I’ve gotten through all this is people I have found know what they’re usually talking about have told me this team is a completely different-looking team than the 4-20 mess of the last couple of year.
Different in a good way. As in operating like a team playing in the SEC instead of a high school program.
How all that translates to a game in a year that would have to drastically improve to get to wacky is anybody’s guess.
One misconception a lot of media and fans have had the past couple of years i the talent level was at an al-time low. They weren’t anywhere near as bad as the record. It was good enough to be in a bowl game somewhere.
Too often people fall into believing coaches saying it’s always about how good the players are, which is true but not the way some people think.
Nobody’s going to win many game with an entire squad of five-stars that aren’t developed and taught to play at the SEC level. In nearly 50 years covering college sports I’ve seen way more five-stars play at a two-star level than I’ve seen match their rating.
That’s why I’m not buying into the lack of talent theory, especially at skill positions. Maybe the interior linemen don’t have a lot of stars, but some transfers are going to make a difference there.
The schedule has accurately been described by some as the toughest in the history of college football. If someone has had a tougher one I’m not aware of who it is but everybody in the SEC has a tough way to go with nothing but conference opponents.
We’ll see how it plays out. No way I’m making any predictions because, as I’ve said, this year we’re one frat party away from some top-ranked team having to play a game with their third team and some walk-ons.
The Hogs can’t afford to be that team. While the talent is not that bad, the depth is very questionable and we’ll see how that plays out.
But the most interesting stat that might just force the most obvious change is new offensive coordinator Kendal Briles has WON more games at the Power 5 level than the previous OC even coached.
Let that sink in for a minute.
That’s the biggest reason this team is going to be better … and could have a better record than the last two years.
Just don’t ask me which games are the wins.
