Arkansas football’s collapse in Saturday’s home blowout loss to Ole Miss may be the start of a striking trend for Travis Williams’ defensive unit.
Last season, Williams’ first as a member of Arkansas’ coaching staff, the Hogs got off to a relative rip-roaring start against opposing offenses. It held teams like Ole Miss (27), Alabama (24) and Mississippi State (7) to low point totals and kept the team in games more often than not.
But then, the final four games happened. After an Oct. 28 bye week, Williams’ squad surrendered 36 points (at Florida), 48 points (vs. Auburn), 20 points (vs. FIU) and 48 points (at Missouri). Those teams averaged 405.5 total yards against Arkansas' defense.
Fast forward to the present, and the beginning of a startling parallel has potentially emerged. So far, Arkansas has kept teams like Auburn (14), Texas A&M (21) and Tennessee (14) at bay point-wise. To start a four-game close to the regular season against the Rebels, however, the Razorbacks were completely dismantled to the tune of 63 points and 694 yards allowed.
Is that a sign that Arkansas’ defense is about to let go of the rope similar to last season? For head coach Sam Pittman’s sake, the Hogs better hope it’s a coincidence and not a trend.
"Well, I mean each team is different," Pittman said after the Ole Miss game. "I know what you’re talking about in that we’ve played really well and then we haven’t. I understand the question and I think it’s a fair question. But teams are different."
Fortunately for Arkansas, it has one final bye this week to fix some of its mishaps, whether that's possibly tipping plays to offenses or failures in the secondary. Unfortunately for Arkansas, it has a daunting matchup against No. 5 Texas and its No. 16 total offense coming up Nov. 16.
That isn't exactly a recipe for success, and star Arkansas pass-rusher Landon Jackson knows the Hogs have to figure things out to avoid another end-of-season defensive disaster.
"We've got a whole new team this year, so really try not to look back on last year and compare it," Jackson said after the Ole Miss game. "I mean, we definitely have to have a reality check as a team and really just come down to earth and figure out what we need to get better at and get better at it. And yeah, I mean, just can't let it happen again.
"Got to learn from our mistakes, and overall get better as a defense because past few games, we've allowed too many points. Even Mississippi State game, offense saved us because we still allowed almost 30 points. So really, just figure it out and overall just start playing better ball."
Up next, Arkansas will welcome the Texas Longhorns to Razorback Stadium next Saturday. That game will kick off at 11 a.m. CT and will be broadcast on ABC.
