Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
GRIT, FIGHT RETURNS FOR HOGS UNDER PITTMAN
SAM PITTMAN’S FIRST ARKANSAS TEAM ONLY WON 3 GAMES, BUT IT ADOPTED A NEW, COMPETITIVE CULTURE
Never has a 3-7 season been met with such applause by a fan base as the 2020 Arkansas season.
No one would believe that years from now when they scan the results, especially the 52-3 loss to Alabama to end the season. They’ll fail to realize that there could have been a bowl game, the trip to the Texas Bowl that was canceled when TCU threw in the towel 72 hours out because of covid-19 and “other circumstances.”
Sam Pittman’s first year as Arkansas coach — a head scratcher nationally in the initial announcement — gets a thumbs up from anyone who has been paying attention to Arkansas football under John L. Smith, Bret Bielema and Chad Morris. It’s been horrible.
When the SEC added Georgia and Florida to an already tough schedule, some predicted 0-10 for the Razorbacks. As it was, they came within an eyelash of winning over half of their games. They lost a 50-48 heartbreaker at Missouri in their ninth game that kept Pittman from going 3-0 against the other first-year coaches in the SEC.
Not hanging with Alabama should not detract from Pittman’s first 12 months. Pittman turned heads around the country — and especially in the SEC — with victories over Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Tennessee.
Then, there is the Auburn game, a loss in the SEC standings, but an Arkansas victory with almost anyone paying attention. The botched replay review of the deciding play left even many Auburn fans thinking they lost.
Some Auburn boosters even moaned that it could provide life to coach Gus Malzahn’s bid for another year. Ultimately, it did not. The Auburn brain trust seemed to count that game against Malzahn as they paid him his buyout.
The Hogs outplayed the Tigers. They fought hard at Auburn like they did at Starkville and throughout this strange season. They deserve a bowl game despite a losing record.
They shouldn’t be remembered for losing seven games, but for playing hard in 10, something the last few Arkansas teams couldn’t say. It made fans proud.
Former players who could not believe the lack of effort in recent years stuck out their chests with pride when they spoke about the 2020 Razorbacks. Mark Smith, an All-SEC linebacker on the 1995 team that won the SEC West, beams about what he sees now.
“This team makes me proud,” Smith said. “They play with great effort. You see the fight until the end.”
Smith was a captain and four-year starter for the Hogs, finishing in 1996. He was a fantastic try-hard player. He points to effort players throughout the Arkansas lineup now, something he couldn’t say in the past.
Smith had season tickets but did not renew after watching the 2018 North Texas game under Chad Morris, a 44-17 Arkansas loss.
“I quit going because I didn’t see a team that would fight back,” Smith said. “This team does. They have not won all the games, but they fight back. I see a team that fights until the end.
“Those linebackers we’ve got now at Arkansas, I’ll watch them all day long. I saw a shot from the end zone in the first game of Morgan next to a Georgia offensive guard. Morgan came up to his belly button. But he’s one of the better linebackers we’ve had. He plays so hard.
“I like to watch the freshman safety Jalen Catalon, too. He is a really good player and so smart.”
Malcolm Sheppard is another four-year starter and captain with an appreciation of what is happening at Arkansas under Pittman. A defensive tackle (2006-09) who played with fire, Sheppard was upset at what the SEC did to the Hogs at Auburn.
“It looked like preferential treatment to me,” Sheppard said. “You just have to win games and maybe you will get that kind of call. You win and you are ranked, it will turn around. I believe that. And what I see from Sam Pittman, they will win.
“What they are doing is exactly what you need to play in the SEC. I think coach Pittman is building in the trenches. You win in the SEC with line play. I think you need to have a passing game, but you win by controlling the run game.
“You have to make that offensive line strong to have success. It’s nice to have some elusive wide receivers and backs, but the formula to win in the SEC is in the trenches and that’s what Coach Pittman is doing.
“We’ve proven that we are a very, very dangerous team. I can’t say enough how proud I am of our team and our coaches. Coach Pittman has instilled a mindset of winning football.
“Everything is coming together. Coach Pittman is a real treat.”
The formula is to build the offensive and defensive line, but there is more on the way than that in recruiting. There is balance in the 23 players Pittman’s staff landed in the early signing period.
There is balance on both sides of the ball with speed at running back, wide receiver and in the defensive secondary. There is help coming in special teams, both with kickers and return specialists.
The Hogs fought with a short stick in special teams this season. I looked at cover teams late in the season — a punt return for a touchdown against Alabama stands out — with wonderment.
Defensive starters — depleted by injury and covid-19 — couldn’t be asked to play extra snaps because of poor time of possession numbers. Linebackers, cornerbacks and safeties are usually the top source of cover teams and the Hogs finished the season on fumes in all three areas.
Pittman never complained. He admitted after the Alabama game that it was a challenge every Friday morning to assess the final covid-19 test (from Thursday night) and put together a team.
I recalled his line from after the victory at Starkville, a trip the Hogs took only 67 players, short of the SEC maximum of 70. Pittman was trying to instill confidence in his team, but the truth is the Hogs were shorthanded all season.
“All we have,” the Arkansas coach said, “is all we need.”
You can tell when players believe. They begin to repeat what they hear from their coach. Leaders like Morgan and Catalon sounded like their coach as they explained their confidence in their plan each week. Defensive coordinator Barry Odom dropped eight and played cover most of the time. A lack of a pass rush was a season-long handicap.
“We know we are going to get a good plan each week,” Catalon said. “Coach Odom will have us in the right places.”
Pittman always seemed to say the right things. He was the perfect face for a program that had fallen into the abyss. Fans bought in even as the losses mounted at season’s end.
“Our kids do play hard,” Pittman said. “We had a lot of guys go down, but the next man stepped in. I’m hard on them, but I love them. It’s fun to see them play.”
That’s been the common theme all season. One of my favorite Pittman lines came after the horrible jobbing by the SEC at Auburn. He admired the way his team competed.
“I was proud of them, and that they fought their butts off,” Pittman said. “We’ve got a good football team, and that the times of us going someplace and embarrassing our fans and our football team are over.”
How Pittman transformed the Hogs into a competitive SEC team is the central theme for 2020.
Of course, it was all done in the strange setting of Zoom video conferences. Never has a first-year coach had to get his message across in such a difficult fashion. Pittman even handled his own covid-19 quarantine with strong leadership. He did Zoom interviews for 10 days from his pool house.
It kept the pressure off his coaches so they could concentrate on their regular duties. Pittman even did his weekly television show while in quarantine. The Hogs appeared to miss their leader that week when Florida dominated the second quarter in a 63-35 loss.
Mostly, the Hogs displayed toughness. There were heroes almost every week, even in losses.
There were negatives, like players opting out. Rakeem Boyd left after the LSU game was postponed. Others opting out were A’Montae Spivey, Chibueze Nwanna, Jarques McClellion, Shamar Nash and Jerry Jacobs.
Levi Draper, De’Vion Warren missed most of the season with injuries. Feleipe Franks, Treylon Burks, Bumper Pool, Morgan, Hudson Henry, Beaux Limmer, Noah Gatlin, Julius Coates, Dorian Gerald, Ty Clary, Montaric Brown, Devin Bush, Micahh Smith and Boyd are among those who missed games with injuries.
There were a host of others who sat out games because of covid-19 quarantine. The Hogs had to shuffle the offensive line often because of covid-19 issues. The defensive line was severely depleted for the LSU game when Isaiah Nichols, Eric Gregory, Zach Williams, Coates and Gerald all missed.
There were more highlights, though. Unknown Cornerback Hudson Clark intercepted three passes against Ole Miss to make national defensive player of the week. Left tackle Myron Cunningham emerged as the anchor of an improved offensive line. He joined with left guard Brady Latham to provide some punch to the running game late in the season.
Wide receiver Treylon Burks turned into a highlight reel. His one-hand catch in the corner of the end zone against Ole Miss was among the all-time best in Arkansas history. He caught 10 for 206 yards against Missouri.
Offensively, new coordinator Kendal Briles built his game plans around the run-pass threat of the Florida graduate transfer Franks. The 6-6 senior ran the ball 105 times, the most for an Arkansas quarterback since the Matt Jones days.
Franks threw for 17 touchdowns with just four interceptions. His completion percentage of 68.5 beats the school record of 66.7 set by Kevin Scanlon in 1978.
If there was a criticism of Franks, it was that he held the ball too long. But his ability to deliver marvelous deep passes to Burks and Mike Woods helped to open the run game. Opposing safeties did not dare crowd the line for much of the season.
Burks led the receivers with 51 catches for 820 yards, an average of 16.1 yards per catch. He scored seven touchdowns.
Woods caught 32 for 619 and five TDs. He averaged 19.3 per catch.
The tight ends — thought to be suspect in pre-season — developed nicely. Blake Kern emerged as a reliable threat in short yardage and was a solid blocker. Redshirt freshman Hudson Henry battled injuries, but displayed promise and toughness.
Briles finally figured out some roles for TJ Hammonds. By season’s end, there were passes and runs that worked for the jitterbug all-purpose back seldom used by previous staffs.
The Hogs struggled in the running game early, but gained steam as Trelon Smith emerged as the top back. Smith, the transfer from Arizona State, made 710 yards and scored five touchdowns.
Franks could not play against Missouri because of a rib cage injury. He also battled an injury to his left hand sustained at Florida. KJ Jefferson filled in at Missouri with the kind of results that provide confidence for the future.
Morgan had 111 tackles despite missing the Alabama game and made Associated Press first team All-SEC. It was when he went down with a knee sprain late in the Missouri game that it was obvious the senior linebacker was the glue. The Hogs gave up 292 yards in 22 snaps in the fourth quarter.
A former walk on, the Greenwood senior played with an injured left elbow for most of the season. Injured against Mississippi State, Morgan didn’t want an MRI after that game, fearing the results might cause trainers to hold him out of games. He rehabbed and was set to play in the bowl.
However, it wasn’t a oneman show on defense. The tackling charts tell the story. Pool, a linebacker who missed time with broken ribs, added 101 tackles and Catalon another 99, unusual for a safety. Catalon led the SEC with 51 unassisted tackles.
Catalon intercepted three passes. He returned one for a touchdown against Ole Miss, as did Morgan. Catalon lost a rare interception against Alabama quarterback Mac Jones when linebacker Hayden Henry was called for targeting, one of the few decisions from the SEC replay booth few Arkansas fans argued.
Obviously, no one believed the decision at the end of the Auburn game that disallowed a fumble recovery by Joe Foucha on a backward pass. The Hogs would have had to snap the ball once to run out the clock for a 28-27 victory.
Catalon was ejected twice on borderline targeting penalties, the worst in the fourth quarter of the LSU game when the Hogs were leading. They were tied at 7-7 when he was ejected at Texas A&M.
Catalon didn’t just pile up tackles, the redshirt freshman delivered hit after hit and left TV announcers aghast that anyone could find them illegal. Rarely did Catalon miss a tackle, leaving comparisons inevitable with former Arkansas safety greats Steve Atwater, Kenoy Kennedy and Ken Hamlin.
“I have two sons who play safety,” Kennedy said. “I tell them to watch Jalen Catalon play. That’s how you play the position. I don’t know how they called penalties on Jalen. What’s he supposed to do, dive out of the way?”
There were other strange penalties. Foucha was called for unsportsmanlike conduct after a big hit when he turned away from the Missouri receiver and crossed his arms. That penalty kept alive a key Missouri drive.
Through it all, Pittman maintained his composure. He resisted great temptation to blast the league office. Some fans wished for an outburst and promised to pay his fine, but that’s not a good example for anyone.
It wouldn’t have made players fight any harder for their new coach. He had them at hello.
When Pittman walked into the first team meeting in December 2019, he said, “Y’all didn’t choose me, I chose you.”
“We bought in from the day he stepped into the room,” Catalon said. “The mentality changed. We went into every game believing and thinking we could win.”
It’s that big jump in culture that led seven seniors to announce they would take advantage of the NCAA’s offer of another year of eligibility. Morgan, Kern, Cunningham, Clary, Warren, Gerald and Hammonds all will be back.
Getting the culture right is a good starting point for 2021.
“WE’VE GOT A GOOD FOOTBALL TEAM, AND THAT THE TIMES OF US GOING SOMEPLACE AND EMBARRASSING OUR FANS AND OUR FOOTBALL TEAM ARE OVER.” SAM PITTMAN