Yurachek: Hogs did not get better
For the second year in a row, Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek came to speak at the Little Rock Touchdown Club after a Razorbacks’ nonconference loss.
Yurachek appeared in Little Rock last year two days after Arkansas lost to North Texas 44-17 at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.
On Monday, Yurachek was back in the capital city, once again speaking two days after the Razorbacks fell to San Jose State 31-24.
The Razorbacks, who gave San Jose State $1.5 million to play Saturday’s game, could not overcome quarterback Nick Starkel’s five interceptions and the Spartans’ 503 yards of offense.
Similar to a year ago in Little Rock, Yurachek said he was disappointed in the Razorbacks’ performance.
Only this year, the loss to the Spartans was worse for him.
“That was a game we should have won,” Yurachek said. “We had better talent. We should have won.
“Quite honestly, we took a step backwards. We did not get better.
“The fact of the matter is, right now as a football program at the University of Arkansas, we are not good enough that we can’t go out every Saturday and not give our best and expect that we’re going to win. We’re just not good enough.”
Yurachek admitted that the Razorbacks put a lot of pressure on themselves for their first four games of the season against Portland State, Ole Miss, Colorado State and San Jose State. He said Arkansas had an opportunity to go 3-1 entering Saturday’s SEC game against Texas A&M (2-2, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
But Yurachek is still confident that the Razorbacks can turn things around in their final eight games.
“The season is not over. We’ve got eight more games left to play,” Yurachek said. “There’s a lot of teams out there that are 2-2. Some are 1-3, 0-4. We have a big game against another 2-2 team that is fighting for their lives, quite frankly. They don’t want to be 0-2 in the SEC. They don’t want to lose to the University of Arkansas. They’re not going to feel sorry for us. We’re not going to feel sorry for us either.
“We’ve got to put the San Jose State game behind us. We have to start preparing for a great game against Texas A&M on Saturday.”
Yurachek and Arkansas coach
Chad Morris met Sunday morning, as they usually do the day after a game. Morris told Yurachek he accepted full responsibility for Saturday’s loss.
During the meeting, Yurachek told Morris he had his full support.
“You are our football coach. You are my football coach,” Yurachek told Morris. “This program, in spite of the loss Saturday, is headed in the right direction. I can see it’s going in the right direction.
“Did we take a step back on Saturday? Absolutely. Are we all disappointed that we lost on Saturday? Absolutely. Should we have lost on Saturday night? Absolutely not. Chad Morris has our football program headed in the right direction and we’re just going to have to be more patient than most of us want to be, including myself.”
Other highlights from Monday’s Touchdown Club meeting:
— The 2019 Arkansas Razorbacks class for the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame was announced Monday. The class is highlighted by former football coach and athletic director John Barnhill, former football player Bruce James, former men’s basketball player Scott Hastings and former baseball player Johnny Ray. The other inductees are Delmonica Dehorney-Hawkins (basketball), Paul Donovan (track and field), Jon Richardson (football), Glen Rose (basketball/football) and Lisa Sparks-Walker. The class will be honored Nov. 11 at the Little Rock Touchdown Club at the DoubleTree Hotel.
— Yurachek on meeting with Razorbacks athletes at their respective games/events: “I shake every player’s hand after every game, win or lose. That’s my role as a director of athletics.”
— Yurachek posted on Twitter on Wednesday to get fan feedback on design elements for the Razorbacks’ basketball court, which will be called Nolan Richardson Court at Bud Walton Arena. The top response was bringing back the Razorbacks’ classic “Slobbering Hog” logo to midcourt. “It wasn’t Scotty Thurman that won the national championship [in
1994]. It was the Slobbering Hog,” Yurachek joked.
— Yurachek on whether he looked at Twitter after the Razorbacks’ loss to San Jose State: “I’ve turned social media off for the last
24 hours.”
— Yurachek on playing Arkansas State University in the future, with Arkansas now playing the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff in several sports, including baseball: “I’m not going to say we won’t look at Arkansas State down the road. The games we’ve had so far have had a positive response. Obviously, a game against Arkansas State will have some interest across this state. Whether it happens or not, I’m not going to sit here and make any guarantees today.”