It’s hard to imagine seeing anything with Arkansas football worse than what we saw in 2018 and 2019. I never thought that was possible.
Until now.
That’s where things have fallen with this team and listening to folks who saw some of the practices back in spring they were pretty much preparing me for what was coming.
It’s not an effort issue. We’ve seen that at times, but nobody is saying that’s an issue right now with the Razorbacks.
The Hogs just aren’t talented enough to win at the level they play.
North Alabama gave us a hint in how staying within 17 against Arkansas in the opening week told everybody more about the Hogs than it did the opponent. That game never should have been that close at halftime.
Arkansas’s warning signs started in week one
Utah proved those thoughts weren’t wrong.
When the Razorbacks got a field goal instead of a touchdown on the first drive of the game, they may have had a 3-point lead but it didn’t appear to be comfortable for anybody.
Plus the Utes weren’t too concerned about it. That was the most alarming thing to me. They just didn’t have the body language of a team that had just gotten hit in the mouth and were developing a sense of urgency to respond.
They proceeded to just beat the daylights out of Arkansas and a fluke touchdown off a tipped pass late didn’t make much difference to anybody. Utah still covered the point spread with the bets.
Now No. 2 Georgia is on the schedule and they may score 40 in the first half alone. If that happens, I don’t expect Kirby Smart to call off the Bulldogs much, if any at all.
He’s trying to win championships while Arkansas is just trying to get an SEC win for a change.
This isn’t about effort, it’s about talent
While there have been some shocking upsets the Razorbacks have pulled off over the years, I can’t think of a single thing that approaches this level.
Wins over Tennessee a couple of years ago or even in 1992 would rise to the level of an upset over this Georgia team.
This year is a talent level. Bless their hearts, the Hogs just simply haven’t shown they have enough talent to even be able to keep this game close.
How many people are in Razorback Stadium to see it is an entirely different matter.
Wherever they get the number announced as attendance will probably look okay and there are some people that will read that, accept it and move on about their day.
Talk to anybody at the game, though, and it will be different.
Since almost nothing else is transparent around Arkansas’ athletic department these days why should attendance be different?
