The headline says it all, doesn't it? This story could include nothing else in it and most Arkansas fans would nod their head and fully agree with third-year starting quarterback KJ Jefferson.
Arkansas fell to 2-5 on the year Saturday following a 24-21 loss to the No. 11 Alabama Crimson Tide. It was a game that seemed to be trending towards a blowout in the first half, but resulted in Arkansas having a chance late in the fourth quarter. But as a Razorback fan, you probably knew in real time how the game was going to end.
The Razorbacks are 5-13 in one-possession games under head coach Sam Pittman, and Saturday wasn't the day for them to get their sixth win in one-possession games under him. Even still, his team fought hard and once again fell just short.
"You know, one-possession losses sometime get skewed," Pittman said in his postgame press conference. "You've got a stat and all that kind of stuff, but when you're a 3-touchdown underdog and you get beat by three and that goes in the same category of, you're a 3-point favorite and you lose by 3, it's not the same thing. It's still a loss, but you know, we got beat by 3 at LSU.
"To answer that, we needed a stop. We tied it up, got beat by 3. We had the ball with an opportunity to tie it up. I bet it was 94 yards away, but you've got to have those drives. We've got to finish somehow, and we're just not doing it."
That drive Pittman is referencing started with 9:59 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Razorbacks had the ball on their own 8-yard line down by three after forcing a third straight Alabama three-and-out.
The Hogs ran eight plays and gained 27 yards, but it was an 11-yard sack to Jefferson on 3rd-and-8 from the Arkansas 46-yard line. Arkansas' defense wasn't able to force a fourth three-and-out, and the Crimson Tide ran the rest of the clock out to win the game.
Jefferson did as much as he could to put the offense on his back in the second half, but it wasn't enough. He ended the game 14-of-24 passing with 150 passing yards and two touchdowns, while adding 14 carries for 26 yards. His rushing yard total doesn't tell the whole story, as he was sacked three times to bring his yardage down.
Pittman's starting quarterback didn't really seem to agree with the sentiment of it being a moral victory because the Hogs lost by three.
"We’ve all got the same mindset that enough is enough," Jefferson said. "We’re tired of feeling this way. We’re tired of losing. That’s the main part, like we’re tired of feeling this way. We want to get back in the win column. We want to be able to come in the locker room and celebrate and have fun and get back in the win column."
Let's be real here, of course Pittman is devastated that his team just lost another game that it could've won. The Razorbacks were down their star running back in Rocket Sanders, plus four defensive starters, and they still almost won. But almost is not enough, and it's getting to the point where almost winning but losing is getting pretty old.
"I want to make that very clear, we're not happy to get beat by Alabama," Pittman said. "You aren't, I'm not, you're not -- nobody is. Our players aren't. But, you have to continue to fight and continue to get better, and if we'll do that, surely there's going to be some team that's not ranked in the top 15 in the country that's going to play us at some point at our place.
"We've just got to continue to fight and all those things. We've got a hard road to get bowl-eligible, but that is our goal. We've got to start it Saturday."
Arkansas fought valiantly on Saturday after a first half that featured just 98 total yards of offense and a pair of field goals. The defense came out and shut the Alabama offense down in the second half and the offense even looked acceptable at times.
"I'm really proud of our football team, and I hate it that we couldn't come away with a win," Pittman said. "But I'm proud of our effort, I'm proud of our coaches, I'm proud of our players. Obviously, that's two times in a row we've come in here and lost by seven, then today by three. But we need a win, and certainly looking forward to getting back home."
Pittman is right. His team needs a win and it needs one badly. Arkansas can't afford a sixth straight loss in a row, especially not to the Mississippi State Bulldogs (3-3, 0-3 SEC). The Hogs and Dogs will kickoff at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN next Saturday at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.
