and explain yourselves


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John Calipari will have Johnell Davis and Adou Thiero with him at SEC Basektball Media Days on Oct. 15 in Birmingham, Alabama.

Rivals national analyst Rob Cassidy posted his regular rumor mill piece and touched on multiple topics, including Meleek Thomas and Arkansas. Here is the excerpt for that:

MAKES SPLASH WITH THOMAS

"Arkansas has long been among the front-runners to land five-star guard Meleek Thomas, and last week's visit seems to have solidified the Razorbacks’ position as one of, if not the, most likely landing spot for the Pittsburgh native.

Thomas recently canceled a visit to Alabama. As of now, a visit to Kansas State remains on the schedule for Oct. 26, but the future of that trip seemed a little up in the air as of Sunday afternoon. A cancellation would be extremely positive news for Arkansas fans, as K-State has the financial support and relationships in place to become a threat.

Should Thomas set foot in Manhattan as scheduled, there could be some white knuckle moments in Fayetteville. If not, it might be time for celebration in the Hawgs' recruiting office."

Guy is the real freaking deal. We have got to do whatever it takes to keep him around.

From @RileyMcFerran

At the midway mark of the season, Arkansas (4-2, 2-1 SEC) has a much-needed bye week to rest up and refocus before closing out its 2024-25 campaign.

Head coach Sam Pittman's squad began the year with a 70-0 blowout over Arkansas-Pine Bluff at War Memorial Stadium before losing in heartbreaking fashion, 39-31 (OT), at then-No. 16 Oklahoma State in Week 2.

The Razorbacks rebounded in less-than-stellar fashion with a 10-point home victory over UAB, and then started SEC play by knocking off Auburn, 24-14, at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Arkansas then lost the final Southwest Classic at AT&T Stadium, 21-17, to then-No. 24 Texas A&M.

Arkansas shocked the college football world over the weekend when it defeated then-No. 4 Tennessee, 19-14, behind a remarkable defensive performance from Travis Williams' bunch.

Through those six games, Arkansas finds itself improved compared to last season in most offensive and defensive statistical categories.The Hogs boast three top-25 offensive and five top-50 defensive categories.

Here's a look at the rest of Arkansas' stats and Pro Football Focus grades so far this year:

Season Stats - Arkansas (FBS rank out of 134 teams)​

Offense

~ Scoring: 33.0 (41st)
~ Total yards: 484.8 (13th)
~ Passing: 285.3 (25th)
~ Rushing: 199.5 (29th)
~ Third downs: 52.8% (8th)
~ Sacks allowed/game: 2.33 (90th)
~ Turnovers: 9 (98th)

Defense

~ Scoring: 19.2 (34th)
~ Total yards: 321.5 (39th)
~ Passing: 214.7 (68th)
~ Rushing: 106.8 (30th)
~ Third downs: 33.3% (33rd)
~ Sacks/game: 2.33 (46th)
~ Turnovers forced: 7 (55th)

Pro Football Focus (season grades)​

Team Grades (Rank out of 134 FBS teams)

~ Overall: 88.1 (47th)

~ Offense: 80.3 (23rd)
~ Passing: 81.3 (30th)
~ Rushing: 85.0 (18th)
~ Receiving: 72.6 (40th)
~ Pass blocking: 65.9 (84th)
~ Run blocking: 67.1 (43rd)

~ Defense: 76.6 (75th)
~ Run defense: 87.3 (24th)
~ Tackling: 65.0 (73rd)
~ Pass rush: 66.5 (85th)
~ Coverage: 63.8 (106th)
~ Special teams: 79.8 (45th)

Note: Only players with 15+ snaps minimum listed.

PFF Season Grades Through 6 Games

Committed to :

6'2" 170 PG Darius Acuff Jr. - five-star No. 9

Offers:

6'8" 200 SF AJ Dybantsa - five-star No. 1 (HOGS NOT IN CUT LIST)
6'9" 225 PF Cameron Boozer - five-star No. 2 (LOW)
6'5" 195 SG Darryn Peterson - five-star No. 3 (KU Lean)
6'9" 200 PF Caleb Wilson - five-star No. 4 (HIGH)
6'4" 170 SG Meleek Thomas - five-star No. 5 (ARK Lean)
6'8" 220 PF Koa Peat - five-star No. 6 (LOW - Arizona Lean)
6'5" 205 SG Trey McKenney - five-star No. 14 (LOW)
6'9" 220 PF Chris Cenac Jr. - four-star No. 17 (HIGH)
6'4" 205 SG Cayden Boozer - four-star No. 21 (LOW)
6'3" 161 PG Kingston Flemings - four-star No. 25 (HIGH - ARK Lean)
6'8" 170 PF Terrion Burgess - four-star No. 57* (LOW)
6'5" 180 SG Isaiah Sealy - four-star No. 77* (LOW)
6'3" 170 PG Courtland Muldrew - four-star No. 110 (LOW)

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The one-score games went the other way. Those losses to Oklahoma State and Texas A&M are killers.


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I re-watched several plays from the A&M game and TG is still missing several reads, not going through progressions and just fleeing the pocket unnecessarily. Look at the last offensive play of the game for the easiest example, JJ is the checkdown and open by at least 20 yards. Instead, TG flees right (never looking at JJ) and actually fades back into the defender making it an easy strip sack.

I understand BP wanting a running QB, as he believes that maximizes his offense (this goes all the way back to his wanting to go to Atlanta so he could use M. Vick). Trouble is, BP needs his QBs to be good pocket passing QBs first - otherwise his scheme isn't nearly as productive.

I recall BP saying back in the day that he preferred accurate QBs because it was something you couldn't teach -- guess that's why I'm surprised he was so interested in TG. Good news is that Lamar Jackson was a career 57% passer at Louisville but his TD to INT ratio was way better than TG (and he rushed for an avg of 108 yards per game for his career--crazy).

If TG is the best pocket passer we have on the roster (or if there's not much difference between the group), then we should roll with him and hope the light comes on. If it's Singleton or someone else, then they should be getting strong looks because the turnovers will not stop in this scheme if the QB can't process progressions and get the ball out on time.

4-star OL Logan Schram just finished up an OV here last weekend and is announcing his decision Sunday.

It’s between Arkansas, TCU and Texas Tech. He took OV’s to the other two schools in April and May. I like the Hogs here but he’s also got a ton of connections to Texas Tech, who is the biggest threat.

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Still has some of his normal misses but I thought he played his best game so far. Stood in the pocket and made some really good throws. I didnt get to watch every play because we had baseball tonight but what I did see the misses were way down. Threw behind sategna on big play but he made the catch. Other than the Teslaa wide open he never saw and the Anthony short throw I don’t see much to be up set about.

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We continue HawgBeat's series of analyzing Arkansas' games through the lens of Pro Football Focus after the Razorbacks' 19-14 win over the No. 4 Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday.

The analytics from PFF keep track of grades for each player on a scale of 0-100. The website goes further into depth on specific grades, but for the purpose of this story, we will just look at offensive grades.

Here are the grades on the offensive side of the ball from the Tennessee game...

Team Grades

~Overall: 75.6

~Offense: 71.7

~Passing: 90.6

~Pass blocking: 72.4

~Receiving: 69.9

~Running: 61.7

~Run blocking: 58.3

Notes​

~ Two of the top three offensive graded players are the same as last week, as Andrew Armstrong and Braylen Russell continue to be pillars for the Razorbacks.

~ Only two offensive linemen finished with pass block grades higher than 65.0: Joshua Braun (86.2) and Fernando Carmona Jr. (84.0).

~ Russell had the Razorbacks' highest run grade (73.1), but he had the worst pass block grade (26.4).

~ After finishing as the highest-graded offensive player a week ago, Issac TeSlaa was the lowest graded player against the Vols (52.7).

~ The highest run block grade belongs to Maddox Lassiter (67.3), and no one else graded above 65.0.

Arkansas Offense PFF Grades - Tennessee

TAKEAWAYS​

1. Isaiah Sategna reliable in the pass game​

Isaiah Sategna's production has seen a tick up since the start of conference play, as the speedy receiver has 14 catches for 184 yards and a touchdown in three SEC games.

Against the Volunteers, Sategna made five catches for 72 yards with a long of 23 and consistently caught them while in traffic. This development is big for the Razorbacks, who have been far too reliant on Armstrong to move the ball down the field.

2. Taylen Green poised when protected​

When he receives time in the pocket, Taylen Green has shown the ability to make high-level throws. I think back to the picture-perfect dimes to Armstrong along the sideline or the bullet to Tyrone Broden in the fourth quarter.

Against Tennessee, Green completed 19-of-27 throws for a 70.4% completion percentage, his highest of the season. More importantly, Green didn't put the ball in harm's way, which allowed the Hogs to have sustained drives to run out the clock.

3. Andrew Armstrong an NFL prospect​

It was already time to start talking about Armstrong as an NFL prospect, but the more he continues to put up stat lines like he did against Tennessee — nine catches for 132 yards — the higher his chances become to play at the next level.

Through five games, Armstrong has made 38 grabs for 552 yards but surprisingly zero touchdowns. Despite not playing in the season-opener against UAPB, Armstrong is on pace to eclipse the 1,000-yard receiving mark this season.

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Arkansas is looking to lock in its second five-star guard in the 2025 class, and I have logged a Rivals FutureCast for that to happen by projecting Meleek Thomas to become a Razorback.

I initially put a FutureCast in for Thomas to Connecticut, which seemed like a near-done deal over the summer, but recruiting is extremely volatile and things change constantly.

Arkansas benefits from its new coaching staff — which includes head coach John Calipari — having an existing relationship with Thomas, and also because back-to-back national champion UConn is pushing for other 2025 stars in Acaden Lewis and Braylon Mullins.

The latter kept Thomas's recruitment open long enough to schedule and visit Fayetteville over the weekend, when the Arkansas football team defeated No. 4 Tennessee in an electric atmosphere at Razorback Stadium.

Sources have indicated that the visit went very well, with the coaching staff pushing for a commitment from Thomas. Current five-star 2025 Arkansas guard commit Darius Acuff Jr. was also on campus for a visit.

The main reasons for switching my FutureCast to Arkansas have to do with the timeline of events and reading some tea leaves. What sticks out most from the timeline is as follows:

(1) Thomas has been an Arkansas lean for a while.

(2) Sources have indicated that 2025 recruit Kingston Flemings won't be taking his Arkansas visit, which was scheduled for late October.

(3) Past intel has suggested that Arkansas would take the first of whomever committed between Flemings and Thomas.

(4) Thomas had an incredible visit this past weekend, per source.

(5) Bringing Acuff in for a visit on the same weekend as Thomas.

(6) Sources have rumored that Thomas might cancel his upcoming Kansas State visit.

If Thomas does not make the trip to Kansas State, I think all bets are off and that he's likely a Razorback. Even if he keeps that visit, I think the Wildcats' coaching staff has an uphill battle to climb.

I am confident in saying that the Razorbacks are the favorites to land Thomas at this point in time, though recruiting in the high school ranks is incredibly fluid and things can change on a dime at any given moment.

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Have we heard anything concrete on the injury?

Brett McMurphy: Arkansas vs Kansas State (Texas Bowl)

ESPN: UCF vs Arkansas (Liberty Bowl); Washington State vs Arkansas (Las Vegas Bowl)

CBS: Texas Tech vs Arkansas (Liberty Bowl)

Worth noting, I saw Cheeze It Bowl reps on Saturday after the game.

Here it is, folks. We will get DVH for a presser at 11 a.m. Tuesday and the team will hold its first fall intrasquad scrimmage on Friday, Sept. 6 (next Friday).

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We continue HawgBeat's series of analyzing Arkansas' games through the lens of Pro Football Focus after the Razorbacks' 19-14 win over the No. 4 Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday.

The analytics from PFF keep track of grades for each player on a scale of 0-100. The website goes further into depth on specific grades, but for the purpose of this story, we will just look at defensive grades.

Here are the grades on the defensive side of the ball from the Tennessee game...

Team Grades

~Overall: 75.6

~Defense: 72.5

~Run defense: 79.6

~Tackling: 90.3

~Pass-rush: 72.1

~Coverage: 64.3

Notes​

~ In an impressive tackling display by Arkansas, only one player graded below 70.0 in the department (Keivie Rose, 38.8).

~ Stephen Dix Jr. continues to flash, as he finished with the highest run defense grade (75.5), an 81.0 tackling grade, a 77.3 pass-rush grade and a 66.3 coverage grade.

~ Landon Jackson (75.3), Larry Worth (78.9) and Brad Spence (72.7) were excellent in pass-rush, with Xavian Sorey Jr. (69.8) and Nico Davillier (65.5) not far behind.

~ Arkansas' secondary still struggled a bit in coverage, as no one graded above 70.0 and one starter (TJ Metcalf) came in at 45.9.

~ In Hudson Clark's return to the field, he finished with a 61.3 run defense grade, a 73.5 tackling grade and a 65.5 coverage grade.

Arkansas Defense PFF Grades - Tennessee

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Arkansas fans have five days to reach an NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) goal that will result in the Slobbering Hog Logo's return to midcourt at Bud Walton Arena for the 2024-25 season, Arkansas Director of Athletics Hunter Yurachek announced Wednesday evening.

Wednesday morning, an X post of Nolan Richardson Court being stripped of its logos and paint was made by the official Arkansas Men's Basketball account with the caption, 'A little refresh coming soon."

RELATED: Calipari using exhibitions to set Arkansas team culture

Naturally, widespread speculation of what the post meant ensued, and pleas for Slobbering Hog's long-awaited return began. Just a few hours later, Arkansas Director of Athletics Hunter Yurachek made a post that put Hoop Hogs fans in a frenzy.

"Hearing some chatter on the Slobbering Hog," Yurachek said Wednesday evening. "I'll make you a deal! I just received a matching gift offer of $500k. If we can raise an additional $500k for (Arkansas Edge NIL) before 5 p.m. on Oct. 7, we WILL put the beloved Slobbering Hog logo at mid-court of BWA."

Arkansas' Slobbering Hog Logo was previously at midcourt of Barnhill Arena and Bud Walton Arena and became synonymous with legendary former head coach Nolan Richardson's "40 Minutes of Hell" play style during his 17-year tenure with the Razorbacks. 2008 was the last time Slobbering Hog was at midcourt of Bud Walton Arena.

On Arkansas Edge NIL's official website, the heading "Help us bring back the Slobbering Hog!" is listed with a caption similar to Yurachek's X post.

"There has been a matching gift offer of $500,000," the caption reads. "If Razorback Nation can raise an additional $500,000 before 5pm on Oct. 7, the Slobbering Hog logo will be at mid-court at Bud Walton Arena this coming season. Make a gift today to bring back the slobbering hog! Please note that contributions of this kind are not tax-deductible."

RELATED: Calipari 'expecting a lot' from Arkansas guard D.J. Wagner

The noted timeframe gives Arkansas fans a five-day window to reach the NIL goal that would put the Slobbering Hog logo back at midcourt for head coach John Calipari's first season as head coach of the Razorbacks.

Up next, Arkansas basketball will play charity exhibition matchups against the Kansas Jayhawks at Bud Walton Arena on Oct. 25 and the TCU Horned Frogs at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, on Nov. 1. Be sure to tune in to HawgBeat for offseason updates on the Hoop Hogs ahead of season tip-off.

Saturday, Oct. 19 at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN. Razorback Stadium should be rocking.

Wasn't planning on starting this thread so early, but today was big as far as transfers go. Could still see a few redshirt candidates enter as well. Obviously things will pick up when December rolls around, but to keep track of things:

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Have reason to believe the Alumni Dinner speaker this year will be pretty major - would love to chat to some fellow alums about this as I start digging for confirmation. Shoot me a DM if you’re so inclined. Thanks!

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Following Arkansas' (4-2, 2-1 SEC) 19-14 win over the No. 4 Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday at Razorback Stadium, two Razorbacks earned weekly honors from the Southeastern Conference on Monday.

Arkansas redshirt junior left tackle Fernando Carmona Jr. and redshirt freshman backup quarterback Malachi Singleton earned recognition from the SEC office for their performances.

RELATED: Arkansas football program, fans united entering bye week

Carmona was named SEC Co-Offensive Lineman of the Week after securing the edge against a talented Volunteers defensive line, which recorded a season-low two sacks during the contest. According to Pro Football Focus, Carmona earned a 60.4 offensive grade and an 84.0 pass-block grade versus Tennessee.

It's the second time of the season that Carmona has been named SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week (Aug. 31 was the previous), and he is the first Arkansas offensive lineman to win an SEC weekly award multiple times in a season since Ricky Stromberg in 2022.

Singleton was named SEC Freshman of the Week after scoring the game-winning touchdown with 1:17 minutes remaining against the Volunteers. The former four-star completed 2-of-3 passes for 31 yards and rushed four times for 15 yards while stepping in for injured starting quarterback Taylen Green.

RELATED: Arkansas' PFF grades, snap counts vs. Tennessee 2024 - Defense

The last time a Razorback quarterback earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors was in 2017, when Cole Kelley accomplished the feat following a 38-37 win at Ole Miss on Oct. 28.

RELATED: Arkansas' PFF grades, snap counts vs. Tennessee 2024 - Offense

Arkansas will now enter a bye week following the big win. Next up, the Hogs will host the LSU Tigers on Oct. 19 for a game that has a 5:00-7:00 p.m CT kickoff window as of now.

Might go down as the best Razorback in NFL history.

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How about UNLV finding a way to lose last night in OT to Syracuse? Got some decent games today, starting with Missouri @ A&M:

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Never has a coach, team or fanbase needed to claim victory more than when Arkansas stunned No. 4 Tennessee on Saturday at Razorback Stadium, 19-14. Or at least it felt that way.

Too long has Arkansas' football program been weighted down by what-if scenarios and heart-aching defeats. The storming of Frank Broyles Field once clocks hit 00:00 wasn't an eye-rolling overreaction by fans. It was true, unmitigated passion boiling over in pure relief.

Those moments are what college football is all about. For once, if only for a sliver of time, coaches, players and fans alike rejoiced in the present. What came before and what lay ahead didn't matter, because the healing of a cracked relationship had already begun.

"Now, I think (the win is) going to do more for the state who was veering over here, 'Hey, they're going to fire their coach, they're going to do this. When the hell are we getting this guy out of here,' all that stuff,” head coach Sam Pittman said postgame.

"I think maybe it'll unite the state a little bit in saying, 'Hey, (these are) our guys. Let's go. Let's go back 'em like they did tonight.' And I'll be honest, most of the state's been doing that anyhow. But I think it's more for the state to do that than our team, because our teams believe that we can beat anybody in the country."

There are hurdles in the development of nearly every program that once cleared, it’ll pave the way for a reestablishment of expectations and goals. Arkansas last hit a milestone marker like this three years ago (2021-22), when then-No. 15 Texas was defeated by a motivated Pittman team, 40-21. Coincidentally, that was the last time fans stormed the field at Razorback Stadium.

Arkansas' victory over the Longhorns served as a jumping-off point coming off the apathy-filled Chad Morris years. The seasons since 2021 haven't been perfect, but they've been a far cry from blowout losses at home to North Texas and Western Kentucky.

Perhaps the Razorbacks' win over Tennessee will lead to another elevation in expectations under Pittman's leadership in the coming years. There’s also the possibility that it won't. In any case, the accomplishments of "the now" should be applauded. Despite faltering in close games so many times before, Arkansas shed its reputation to secure the season-altering victory.

"Our team is something I've never seen as a team together," wide receiver Andrew Armstrong said. "After the two close losses we had previous to this game, the team never just put their head down. They never said, 'oh, the season's over.' We went back to practice on Monday.

"People were in the training room on Sunday getting their body ready because they knew we had a game this weekend. We went out there, this game, and it was a hard-fought game as y'all can see. Like I said, I'm going to say it every time, we just finished."

Now entering a much-needed and well-earned off week, Arkansas can refocus for the upcoming three-game stretch before its next bye on Nov. 9. Momentum is a dangerous thing, and even with a daunting remaining schedule ahead, everything is out there for grabs if the team and its players are ready to take the next step.

"I’ve been a part of losing before bye weeks and the mindset was kind of a little different," Armstrong said. "It was down but it wasn’t too down, but just going into the bye week with a win, it’s great. It’s a great confidence booster. We can take a lot of stuff from film and progress our game even more."

Following the bye week, Arkansas (4-2, 2-1 SEC) will face the LSU Tigers at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville on Oct. 19. That game will kick off at either 5 or 7 p.m. CT and will be the Hogs' official 2024 homecoming.

Was the best at Razorback Stadium for sure since the 2021 Texas game. Pregame festivities were awesome with parachutes and a flyover. They went with some different music before than ran on the field and right before kickoff it was electric.

Having the Tennessee band definitely contributed. They were awesome.

Some different third down songs throughout the game. At the end, they were constantly playing pump up music and they were also blaring the train horn until right before Tennessee snapped.

Postgame atmosphere was great, obviously. Playing Rocky Top was a great troll move.

I know I’m missing some other good stuff.

All that to say, I was very encouraged by more than just the play on the field yesterday.