1. SEC Coach of the Year? - HUTCH
I’ve said it all along, but I’ll say it again: If Arkansas wins four games this year, Sam Pittman should be seriously considered for SEC Coach of the Year. If the Razorbacks get to five wins - which certainly seems possible the way LSU has played so far this season - then he should be a legitimate contender for National Coach of the Year accolades.
It looks like more people are jumping on this bandwagon…
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Pittman inherited a program that had won just one SEC game in the previous three seasons, that had as many Group of Five losses as total victories in the previous two seasons and that many were predicting to go 0-10 against a brutal SEC-only schedule.
When I was looking at some win total before the season, I found one that had Arkansas’ set at 2.5. I was so confident that 2 wins was the ceiling for this team, that I texted a buddy of mine who gambles and told him, “If you can bet on 2.5, put your entire life savings on the under. Ain’t no way in hell Arkansas wins three games this year. ZERO chance.”
Now y’all know why I don’t gamble and it’s Nikki who writes the “Best Bets” piece each week.
2. Trask breaking records - NIKKI
Kyle Trask, who as we all know took over and dominated the QB position when our own Feleipe Franks went down in 2019, has been having a Heisman-worthy season so far for the Gators. He punctuated that fact on Saturday with a decisive win over Georgia. Trask became the first quarterback in SEC history to throw four-plus TDs in five straight games. He completed 30 of 43 pass attempts for a career-high 474 yards, the most by a Gators QB in a regular season game and eight yards shy of Tim Tebow’s single-game school record.
Trask broke Kerwin's Bell school record for passing yards against the Bulldogs (408 in 1985) before the end of the third quarter and joined Danny Wuerffel and Rex Grossman as the only UF quarterbacks with multiple 400-yard games in a career. His 474 yards were the most allowed by a Georgia defense since 2000.
Trask’s season completion percentage of 68.7% is third in the SEC behind Mac Jones and Matt Corral. He has a 22:3 TD-INT ratio. Arkansas will need to score at least 35 or more if they end up victorious on Satruday.
3. Kern Appreciation Post - HUTCH
Is he the best tight end in the country? Nope. He’s not even in the conversation to be among Arkansas’ best tight ends in the last decade, but by golly, you can’t help but be happy for Blake Kern.
A former walk-on from the small Arkansas town of Lamar who’s now a fifth-year senior caught the first touchdown pass of his career against Tennessee. It was even more fitting that it appeared to be the same play on which he dropped a touchdown against Ole Miss.
Despite not being targeted with any passes before this year, Kern has caught 11 passes for 132 yards and one score this season. According to Pro Football Focus, he has an overall grade of 66.6 - which ranks sixth among 12 SEC tight ends who’ve been targeted at least 10 times.
Hudson Henry certainly appears to be the tight end of the future, but you have to respect the role Kern has played on the team that seems to be getting Arkansas back on track.
4. Hurricane Eta - NIKKI
As of this morning, Hurricane Eta looks on track to bring a whole deluge over central Florida in the hours leading up to the Razorbacks game in Gainesville on Saturday. I intend to ask Sam Pittman about this today but I’m curious about what the contingency plans might be. Florida fans are hoping for a neutral site game but perhaps, like LSU and Missouri, the game could be moved to Fayetteville?
In the meantime… I’ll be storm tracking:
5. Comeback Stats - HUTCH
Here are some of my favorite stats from Saturday’s comeback win over Tennessee…
~The 24 points Arkansas scored in the third quarter tied the school record for most points in the third quarter against an SEC team, matching the 24 points scored against South Carolina in 1998.
~That South Carolina game was also the last time the Razorbacks turned a double-digit halftime deficit into a double-digit victory, as it trailed 21-10 at the break before winning 41-28. That has now happened just four times since 1963, with the others coming in 1968 (from down 15-3 to winning 32-15 against Oklahoma State) and 1970 (from down 14-3 to winning 38-14 against Rice).
~Arkansas rallied from a halftime deficit of 13 points, making it the largest second-half comeback since the 2011 Texas A&M game (trailed 35-17, won 42-38). It snapped a streak of 21 straight losses for the Hogs in games they trailed by at least 13 points at halftime.
~Since 1963, the Razorbacks are now 4-67-1 in games they trailed by at least 13 points at halftime. The other two wins in addition to Saturday’s win over Tennessee and the 2011 win over Texas A&M came in 1991 (at TCU) and 1979 (vs. Baylor), while the tie came in 1974 (vs. SMU).
(NOTE: Arkansas’ largest comeback victory in school history was against Ole Miss in 2017, when it rallied from an early 24-point deficit to win by one. However, the Razorbacks managed to cut the Rebels’ lead to 10 before halftime.)