All close losses not the same, Hogs must find way to win

FAYETTEVILLE — Sam Pittman and the Razorbacks have gone 7-6 and 4-8 since a 9-4 season in 2021.

In those two years, the Razorbacks were 3-9 in one-score games (8 points or less). Arkansas defeated Cincinnati 31-24, Kansas 55-53 in three overtimes and Florida 39-36 in overtime.

Losses during that span includes Texas A&M 23-21, Liberty 21-19, LSU 13-10 and Missouri 29-27 in 2022. In 2023, the Hogs lost to BYU 38-31, LSU 34-31, Ole Miss 27-20, Alabama 24-21 and Mississippi State 7-3.

Arkansas is 1-1 this season. In the win they downed UAPB 70-0 and then fell to Oklahoma State 38-31 in two overtimes Saturday. But the Oklahoma State loss is different than the majority of the others. Why? It felt like Arkansas was clearly the better team and should have won the game.

It seems no one thought they should have beaten Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and some of the others. It felt Arkansas was fortunate the games were that close though it would be fair to say the Razorbacks had chances to win each of those games.

For instance when the Hogs lost to LSU 13-10 in 2022 KJ Jefferson didn’t play and yet the home team had a chance to win it despite lackluster play at quarterback.

Arkansas was an average to below average team in 2022-23. This year, Arkansas has a very good team. One capable of winning about any game they play. They obviously aren’t so good though they can gift the other team with pick-6’s, fumbles and penalties. That combo cost the Hogs the game at Oklahoma State on Saturday.

Arkansas had 648 yards of total offense to 385 for OSU. They held running back Ollie Gordon to 49 yards and one touchdown on 17 carries. They had 33 first downs to 21 for the Cowboys. Arkansas rushed for 232 yards to 59 for OSU. The Hogs passed for 416 yards to 326 for the home team. Arkansas won the time of possession 36.14 to 23.46. In other words, Hogs won everything but the scoreboard.

Pittman is 24-26 at Arkansas. In 2020 against an all-SEC schedule the Hogs finished 3-7. They were 1-3 in one-score games. In 2021, the Hogs were 9-4 and went 2-2 in one-score games that season.

So in Year 5, Pittman is 6-15 in one-score games. It is common knowledge this is an important year for Pittman and his staff. In the SEC there will be close games. Now, before it’s too late, Arkansas has got to find a way to win those close ones. On Saturday they defied odds and found a way to lose a game they otherwise dominated.

This team is good enough to win its share and more of those close games. Now, it’s time to go out and do it.