PITTMAN expresses suppport for KJ Jefferson.
FAYETTEVILLE — University of Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman threw his backing solidly behind sophomore quarterback KJ Jefferson a couple of times during his Monday news conference.
Jefferson went 12-of-21 passing for 126 yards and 1 touchdown in Saturday’s 38-17 season-opening win against Rice. Jefferson passed for 21 yards in the first half, but his teammates dropped at least three passes.
He also had a few throws that sailed well over their intended targets but was a difference-maker with his running, accounting for the first two Arkansas touchdowns and amassing 89 rushing yards on nine carries.
“I think KJ probably took a lot of heat this week,” Pittman said. “Everybody’s got their opinion, but the one that really matters is mine. He’s our quarterback, and he’s going to be a heck of a quarterback for us.
“You can’t erase what’s happened. We can’t erase that we didn’t have a good first half, but you also probably need to talk about that the kid played well in the second half, too. He corrected it.”
Jefferson wound up with the nation’s top running grade among all FBS quarterbacks, according to Pro Football Focus.
Pittman was asked whether the coaches had the intention of playing backup quarterback Malik Hornsby.
“Your intentions are always your intentions before the game starts, and then when the game starts like it did for us, especially offensively, you’re trying to fix your starter and you’re trying to fix your starters.
“I wouldn’t have one bit of a problem playing Malik, to answer your question. I think he would give us something different, a little bit, because of his speed, but he can also throw the ball. We just got caught up in a bad first half. We were just trying to fix it the entire first half and obviously after halftime.”
Pittman said he wasn’t “too concerned” about the balls sailing high on Jefferson.
“If he has problems, it’s high,” Pittman added. “But you know, I was watching some tape on some high school kids that are 4- and 5-stars and they miss plays, they miss it, too. I’ve seen Dan Marino miss a pass, you know what I mean?”
Pittman said the disappointing part to him were a couple of passes Jefferson could have thrown away and didn’t, including his only interception when he was rolling right and tried to fire one into Ketron Jackson Jr. on the sideline. Rice cornerback Sean Fresch tracked the play and jumped in front of Jackson for the pick just before going out of bounds.
“That right there was stress,” Pittman said. “That came from not having early success, and [Jefferson] trying to make a miracle happen out here. When we can just throw it away. I think he would throw it away nine times out of 10. I think he was pressing at that point.”