Hogs produced many memorable moments

FAYETTEVILLE — Judged as a stand-alone season, the Arkansas Razorbacks’ 3-7 record in 2020 doesn’t impress.

Viewed in light of the University of Arkansas’ recent history, and the fact it came in the midst of a global pandemic under a first-year coach, the season stands as significant progress.

Arkansas was denied a shot at playing in the Texas Bowl when its Big 12 opponent TCU had roster issues that left it below the threshold established by the conference.

So the Razorbacks will have to aim to break their four-year postseason drought in 2021.

Coach Sam Pittman’s charges broke the school’s 20-game SEC losing streak in Week 2 of the Hogs’ all-SEC schedule with a 21-14 win at No. 16 Mississippi

State, which was coming off a win at defending national champion LSU.

The Razorbacks would have posted a three-game winning streak, but a game at No. 13 Auburn was mis-officiated in the closing seconds and the Tigers kicked a field goal to escape with a 30-28 decision.

Otherwise, Arkansas’ 33-21 win over Ole Miss on homecoming on Oct. 17 would have constituted a third-consecutive win.

The Razorbacks’ new defensive attitude was on display in that game as they registered six interceptions and seven takeaways to suppress the high-flying Rebels.

The Hogs finished the season on a four-game losing streak, though two of those games against LSU and Missouri came down to the wire.

So, a team for which the oddsmakers set an over-under win total of 1.5 and which some analysts pegged for an 0-10 campaign, won three games outright, had another snatched away by an erroneous officiating decision and dropped two more than hung in the balance in the closing seconds.

Arkansas Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette just after the regular season ended, “I couldn’t be more pleased overall with how our football season played out.”

“Some people might say as an athletic director I’m sitting here with a 3-7 football program,” he said. “But, you know I made a statement when our schedule was released in August that I thought it was the hardest schedule on paper in the history of college football.”

The books are closed on the Razorbacks’ 2020 season, but there is much to discuss in the Democrat-Gazette’s annual best and worst analysis.

BEST WIN

All three of the Razorbacks’ wins were notable. The 21-14 victory at No. 16 Mississippi State snapped a 20-game SEC losing streak. The 33-21 win over Ole Miss on homecoming broke a 12game SEC losing streak at home. And the 24-13 win over Tennessee included a comeback from a 13-0 halftime deficit and gave the Razorbacks a three-game winning streak in the series.

The most impressive of those wins was the 12-point decision over Ole Miss. Arkansas won the turnover battle 7-2 with the help of six interceptions, and put up a blueprint for defending the Rebels’ Spread attack under Lane Kiffin with a quality zone defense. The late drama with Grant Morgan’s 23yard interception return for a touchdown to seal the victory added to the satisfaction level.

WORST LOSS

We’ll refrain from going with the obvious bad call late in the Auburn game and point out the 50-48 loss at Missouri. The Tigers were hot, and Arkansas had to turn to freshman quarterback KJ Jefferson due to Feleipe Franks’ rib injury, and Missouri got out to a 10-0 start.

Arkansas dominated the middle section of the game and led 40-26 early in the fourth quarter. After Missouri scored touchdowns on three consecutive possessions to lead 47-40, Jefferson guided the Razorbacks 75 yards on 13 plays in 4:04, connecting with Mike Woods on a 14-yard touchdown pass with 43 seconds remaining.

Not content to kick the PAT for a tie, Pittman went for two and caught a break when Woods snagged a would-be interception in the end zone to put Arkansas ahead 48-47.

But Connor Bazelak moved the Tigers down the field swiftly, and Harrison Mevis’ 32-yard field goal on the game’s final play made it 50-48.

That one hurt.

BEST PASS

Feleipe Franks’ deepball efficiency was judged the best in college football by Pro Football Focus College, so there are many long strikes to consider, including touchdown bombs covering 47 and 82 yards to Mike Woods in the loss at No. 6 Florida. Also worth noting, KJ Jefferson’s 68yard strike to Treylon Burks at Missouri, and Franks’ 65yard touchdown throw to Burks against LSU.

The pick here is Franks’ perfectly delivered 30-yard strike to De’Vion Warren beyond a defender for a touchdown at Auburn. The play was clutch — it came with 5:29 remaining to give Arkansas a 28-27 lead — and it was delivered on a muddy track on a rainy day.

BEST CATCH

Treylon Burks stabbed the ball with his right hand and brought it down to his midsection while toe-tapping with his left foot for a key touchdown in the Razorbacks’ 33-21 win over Ole Miss on homecoming.

The 7-yard touchdown catch, sure to make highlight reels for years to come, was crucial because it came on a third-and-1 snap. It gave the Razorbacks a 26-14 lead with 7:36 remaining.

BEST RUN

Trelon Smith bolted 83 yards for a touchdown with a little help from his friends against No. 6 Florida on the first snap of a series in the second quarter.

The run off left guard was perfectly blocked, with guard Luke Jones pushing a defensive lineman off his spot at the point of attack; center Ricky Stromberg and right tackle Dalton Wagner walling off defenders on the right side; right guard Ty Clary pulling and sealing off the left edge; tight end Blake Kern firing out from the slot to seal off linebacker Ventrell Miller; then left tackle Myron Cunningham engaging a tackler 5 yards downfield.

Smith leapt over the back of Kern’s legs, then juked right off the Cunningham block and easily outraced all the Florida defenders en route to the score.

The long-distance touchdown trimmed Florida’s lead to 21-14 with 6:55 left in the second quarter.

BEST PICK

Three-way tie. The Hogs had three pick-sixes, and they’re all winners.

Greg Brooks Jr. had a 69yard interception return at Mississippi State that was a statement play. It opened the scoring and showed that quarterback K.J. Costello was going to have his work cut out navigating the Hogs’ clever drop-8 pass defense scheme.

Two of the pick-sixes came against Ole Miss. Jalen Catlon’s 35-yard interception return gave Arkansas a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter. Grant Morgan’s 23yard pick-six with 3:07 remaining iced the victory as the Razorbacks led by only five points at the time.

BEST SPECIAL TEAMS PLAY

No return touchdowns or blocked kicks for touchdowns to pick from, but there is a kicking game play that wins this category.

Arkansas had an idea that a fake field goal would catch Missouri off guard, and their pre-game film

study paid dividends on a fourth-and-5 play late in the first half.

Holder Jack Lindsey took the snap from Jordan Silver and bolted through a big hole at right guard created by Ty Clary and Jonathan Marshall for a 20-yard gain to the Missouri 5 late in the first half. KJ Jefferson pushed in on a quarterback sneak two plays later for a 27-20 Arkansas lead at the half.

WORST SPECIAL TEAMS PLAY

The blocked punt in the opener against Georgia led to a key Bulldogs touchdown in the third quarter, but that wasn’t as bad as the blocked punt at Auburn. That one resulted in a touchdown recovery for Barton Lester. In what wound up being a tight finish, those seven points loomed large. Honorable mention is the muffed hold on an extra point kick in that same game, which had the Razorbacks chasing PAT points the rest of the way.

BEST 4TH-DOWN STOP

On fourth and goal from the 1, Ole Miss tried tailback Snoop Conner on a run over the right side on the opening series of the second half. Greg Brooks Jr. sliced in to impede Conner’s progress, then Myles Mason finished up the tackle that thwarted Ole Miss’ 74-yard drive and preserved Arkansas’ 20-0 lead.

NEXT BEST 4TH-DOWN STOP

Trailing 21-14 with about 4:50 remaining, the analytics told Mississippi State Coach Mike Leach to go for it on fourth and 2 from the Arkansas 7. Bad decision.

Arkansas had repelled another fourth and 2 on the Bulldogs’ previous possession at the Hogs’ 13 when quarterback K.J. Costello threw incomplete.

This time, the Bulldogs went to the ground, but linebacker Grant Morgan and safety Joe Foucha combined to throw tailback Jo’quavious Marks for a 2-yard loss that helped seal the Razorbacks’ win.

BEST HIT

Jalen Catalon set the tone in Arkansas’ 33-21 win over Ole Miss with a crushing shot on Elijah Moore after an 8-yard catch on the Rebels’ opening drive.

Moore had to leave the field, and his replacement Jadon Jackson was still in the game and bumped into quarterback Matt Corral on fourth and goal from the Arkansas 1, causing a fumble that Catalon recovered.

WORST CALL

Referee Jason Autrey incorrectly ruled Auburn quarterback Bo Nix’s backward spike as an incomplete pass after Nix muffed the snap, then pivoted and threw the ball behind him. Arkansas safety Joe Foucha eventually recovered the loose ball, which would have sealed a Razorbacks’ victory.

Instead, because the replay review determined the fumble wasn’t recovered in the “immediate continuing action”, the Tigers retained possession and were allowed to kick a 39-yard field goal with seven seconds remaining for the win.

SECOND WORST CALL

An official decided Joe Foucha’s crossing of his arms after an incomplete pass late in the third quarter while on the Arkansas sideline — and back turned toward a fallen Missouri receiver — constituted unsportsmanlike conduct.

Instead of facing third and 11 from their own 28, the Tigers got a gift 15 yards and went on to kick a field goal that cut their deficit to 33-26.

MOST INOPPORTUNE RAIN

The Razorbacks drove 90 yards to the LSU 2 late in the fourth quarter with a 21-20 lead when a sudden rain squall hit Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

Feleipe Franks kept the ball on an option read on which it looked like Trelon Smith might have scored from the 2. As Franks ran left, he lost his footing on the slippery grass and fell to his back for a 2-yard loss to the 4.

Instead of scoring a touchdown that could have put the Razorbacks up by eight points, they had to settle for A.J. Reed’s 22yard field goal and a 24-20 lead that the Tigers would overtake on their next possession.

Pittman