Hogs still trying to get out of 2012 ditch

With Vanderbilt’s upset win over Missouri last Saturday, Arkansas is the only one of the SEC’s 14 teams without a conference victory.

It’s been 15 games since the Razorbacks have won a conference game, including the first 12 under current head coach Chad Morris.

This is the same decade where Arkansas went 17 games without a conference win after Bobby Petrino’s decision to take a Sunday afternoon motorcycle ride with a former Arkansas volleyball player, followed by his crash and subsequent firing in 2012.

It gets no easier for Arkansas (2-5, 0-4 SEC) tonight when it must travel to No. 1 Alabama (7-0, 4-0) for a 6 p.m. game that will be televised nationally on ESPN.

The only chance for Arkansas, and it is a slim one, would be the Crimson Tide looking ahead to a Nov. 9 date with No. 2 LSU, the conference’s only other unbeaten team.

LSU hosts No. 9 Auburn this weekend with the two top teams then having byes weeks ahead of their showdown.

There is such a talent disparity between the Arkansas and Alabama programs even ’Bama looking head might not get the Razorbacks into a close game.

Alabama has routinely been in the top two or three nationally in recruiting rankings while Arkansas has normally been in the 10-14 range among SEC teams and in the 20s and 30s overall.

It doesn’t look like that gap between arguably the best and worst programs in the SEC is going to narrow much after this season because there is a vast divide between the two in the 2020 recruiting rankings.

Alabama is second nationally behind Clemson in the 24/7 composite national rankings and just ahead of LSU, Ohio State and Texas.

Arkansas has fallen to 44th overall in those same rankings with the loss of three of its best commitments since the 2019 season began.

That is only good for 13th in the SEC ahead of only Vanderbilt, which is 65th overall nationally.

The Razorbacks have two four-star commits — quarterback Chandler Morris (5-foot-11, 180 pounds) and athlete Darin Turner (6-4, 215) — with the other 11 pledges being three-stars.

A staff that should be complimented on their first two classes — 23rd in 2019 and 49th after getting a late start when Morris replaced Bret Bielema in 2018 — is fighting an uphill battle this recruiting cycle.

Right now the class doesn’t include an offensive lineman, no pure linebacker and no one that is definitely a secondary addition.

It doesn’t appear that too many of Arkansas’ 13 commits are definitely signing during the Dec. 18-20 early period and will instead wait until the Feb. 5 national signing date.

It seems likely the Razorback coaching staff will use its last four games to see what it has with younger players.

That includes finding out whether true freshman quarterback K. J. Jefferson can be the quarterback of the future while still being able to keep his redshirt.

Surely you will see the same paths for two other true freshman in tight end Hudson Henry and tailback A’Montae Spivey.

Arkansas fans and recruiting pledges and targets will all be looking to see if there are any signs of hope as the Razorbacks play Mississippi State, Western Kentucky, LSU and Missouri down the stretch.

That’s just where things are with this program now.

In reality, it has never truly gotten out of the ditch since April Fool’s Day 2012.