Pittman talks decision to start Cade Fortin over Malik Hornsby
With starting quarterback KJ Jefferson's availability against Mississippi State in question, all eyes were on what quarterback would trot onto the field for Arkansas' first possession of a 40-17 loss Saturday in Starkville.
Head coach Sam Pittman mentioned before the game that Jefferson — who has been dealing with a head injury suffered against Alabama last Saturday — would "probably not play." That was a decision that became clear on Thursday, he revealed after the game.
Jefferson suited up and went through warmups, but the Razorbacks sent walk-on and South Florida transfer quarterback Cade Fortin, not Malik Hornsby, out to start against the Bulldogs.
Pittman said after last week's loss to Alabama that Fortin had won the backup job a while ago, and he said after Saturday's loss to Mississippi State that Fortin was a better quarterback than Hornsby in practice.
"Well, Fortin basically in practice had won that job," Pittman said. "That was the decision there. He had a really good week. Certainly, there's a difference in playing somebody's first team and a scout team."
Fortin saw his only two completions of the game come on the opening drive, which resulted in a 25-yard punt from Max Fletcher.
On the next offensive possession for Arkansas, Hornsby led the offense onto the field. After a false start, Hornsby sprinted 52 yards on his first play from scrimmage. Three plays later, he was hit awkwardly on a quarterback keeper and Fortin came in to replace him.
After Fortin quarterbacked the team to a turnover on downs, he only saw the field for one more play the rest of the game. It was the Hornsby show for the remainder of the blowout loss, and he was one of the lone bright spots for the Hogs.
"I thought he was a little more accurate today than he has been in practice and things," Pittman said. "The short ones still gave us a little bit of trouble, but I thought for the first time that he played a tremendous amount of ball. I know he played the fourth quarter at the Outback Bowl, but I thought he did a really, really nice job."
Hornsby, a redshirt sophomore, threw for 234 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Five of his seven completions were for at least 20 yards, including a 68-yarder and a 44-yarder, both to Jadon Haselwood. Hornsby also added eight carries for a team-high 114 rushing yards.
"I think (Hornsby's) really good, kind of a stud," Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach said. "Well he's really fast, a guy that can get all of it if you don't keep a lid on him, and then he keeps it alive long enough that your coverage breaks down. Maybe not perfectly accurate, but he can throw it forever, so I thought that guy played really well."
There was little game tape out there for Fortin and Hornsby in an Arkansas jersey. Pittman said Fortin took care of the ball better in practice, but Hornsby showed he was the guy when it mattered.
"In all honesty, I thought going into the game, if we could turn around and hand the ball to our backs and run the ball, I thought Fortin could pick them apart," Pittman said. "Certainly, I don't know if that could have come or not because our protection wasn't there. Sometimes you plan on one thing and it doesn't work. I'm not disappointed at all in Cade. I'm not, but that's how he won the job."
The team did not have enough success in the running game for it to open up for Fortin to have success through the air, according to Pittman.
"We weren't disappointed in Cade, it's just Malik had brought us a spark throwing and running," Pittman said.
Until the fourth quarter, Hornsby was nearly unblemished. He threw a pair of interceptions in the final 15 minutes that gave the ball back to Mississippi State and allowed them to trim time off the clock with a significant lead.
Arkansas' defense did not help at all, but Hornsby did his part of providing some sort of momentum to a Razorbacks squad that needed it.
"He also opened up other things," Leach said. "The run, not just his, but other people's runs, and then also the passing game. He might be the fastest quarterback in the conference, I don't know. Good for him. He's kind of hard to tackle, I thought we could've got to him a little bit more."
Moving forward, Pittman said that he thinks Jefferson could be cleared for contact by Monday. As far as the backup situation goes, it would seem as if Hornsby has won that job back.
Pittman said after the game that Jefferson might have been able to play if he had more physical activity, but the team didn't want to risky anything.
"Let's say this, I think he could have done the physical activity on Friday and got cleared and played today, but he hadn't practiced," Pittman said. "I mean, he had but it was indy. He hadn't practiced a whole lot and to be perfectly honest with you it just wasn't worth it to me and I didn't want to put him out there."
The Razorbacks will travel to Provo, Utah, next Saturday to face No. 16 BYU, who will play Notre Dame at 6:30 p.m. tonight. Next Saturday's game will kickoff at 2:30 p.m. CT and will air on ABC or ESPN.