FAYETTEVILLE — Just two years removed from being the laughingstock of the SEC, Arkansas is going bowling.
With a 31-28 win over Mississippi State on Saturday, the Razorbacks improved to 6-3 and became bowl eligible for the first time since 2016 - not including last year, when eligibility requirements were waived.
“I'm very, very, very proud of our team and coaches and our administration,” head coach Sam Pittman said. “We didn't just win the Super Bowl, but it feels like it. We're bowl eligible and very, very excited to know that we're going to play in December or January."
It is a major milestone for Pittman in his second season on the job. When he was hired, Arkansas was coming off back-to-back 2-10 seasons and had lost 19 straight SEC games.
That streak was snapped against Mississippi State in game No. 2 last year - when the Razorbacks went 3-7 with three losses by a combined seven points - and now the Bulldogs were the victim that made Arkansas bowl eligible for the first time in half a decade.
The Razorbacks were technically invited to play in the Texas Bowl last season, thanks to the NCAA removing the eligibility requirements in light of the pandemic, but TCU backed out at the last second because of COVID-19 issues.
Now that things are relatively back to normal, the Razorbacks needed at least a .500 record to reach the postseason and they’ve already accomplished that with three games to go.
“I think it’s very important, especially as we’re trying to build a program right now,” linebacker Bumper Pool said. “The first step is getting into a bowl. I think that you can build off that every single year.”
Arkansas last played in a bowl game following the 2016 season, when it blew a 24-0 halftime lead and lost to Virginia Tech 35-24 in the Belk Bowl.
There are only four players remaining from that team on the roster and all of them are sixth-year super seniors who are still eligible because of the NCAA’s pandemic-related eligibility relief - Grant Morgan, Deon Edwards, T.J. Hammonds and Blake Kern.
Morgan, who redshirted that season, said after Saturday’s game that while he was one of the happiest guys on the team to have an opportunity to play in a bowl game, some of the younger players might not grasp the significance of the achievement.
“Everyone is so excited because…we know what we’ve come from and everyone saw us, where we came from,” Morgan said. “But I think the young guys don’t realize this is a big deal, like going to a bowl is a big deal, especially with three games left.”
Here are a few other notes, stats and tidbits from Arkansas’ win over Mississippi State…
Accurate Day for KJ
Before the season, offensive coordinator Kendal Briles set a completion percentage goal for quarterback KJ Jefferson of 65 percent. It seemed like a lofty target, but the redshirt sophomore is just shy of it nine games into the season.
Saturday was Jefferson’s most accurate day yet, as he completed 19 of 23 passes for 191 yards and one touchdown. Only twice has an Arkansas quarterback thrown at least 20 passes and completed more than 82.6 percent of them, as Jefferson did.
Both of those performances were by Ryan Mallett, who completed 87.5 percent (21 of 24) and 85.2 percent (23 of 27) of his passes against Tennessee Tech in 2010 and South Carolina in 2009, respectively.
“He just really has gotten better,” Pittman said. “He's poised (and) he's a heck of a quarterback… Going 19 for 23, no interceptions, he played a heck of a football game."
Known more for his legs before the season, Jefferson added just 14 yards on 11 carries against the Bulldogs. Excluding sacks, though, he had 27 yards on eight carries.
He has become a true dual-threat quarterback this year, as he’s completed 64.2 percent of his passes for 1,848 yards, 16 touchdowns and only three interceptions, while also running for another 433 yards and five scores.
